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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THOUGHTS 



ORIGIN, CHARACTER AND INTERPRETATION 



SCRIPTURAL PROPHECY. 



IN SEVEN DISCOURSES. 



DELIVERED IN THE CHAPEL OF THE GENERAL THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



WITH NOTES. 



BY SAMUEL H. TURNER, D.D., 

Professor of Biblical Learning and the Interpretation of Scripture in tho 

Seminary, and of the Hebrew Language and Literature in 

Columbia College. 



PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE STUDENTS. 



•tfeto ¥otfe; 

THOMAS N. STANFORD, 637 BROADWAY. 

1856. 



3& 






O.TTL. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 

HARPER & BROTHERS, 
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. 



THOUGHTS ON" THE ORIGIN, CHARACTER, AND 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURAL PROPHECY. 
IN SEVEN DISCOURSES. 

" This is the most lucid, correct, and satisfactory general treatise 
on the Scriptural Prophecies that has ever fallen in my way. 
The author has gone over the whole ground, surveyed every part 
critically and candidly, and presents us with a chart to guide 
future investigators. On the subject of a double sense, or what 
Dr. Lowth calls the mystic allegory, I have seen nothing so full 
and satisfactory. These profound discourses dispel mists from the 
mind, and make the subject clear." — Rev. James Murdoch, D. D. 

" I am acquainted with no work on the subject of Prophecy 
which is equal to your Discourses in the comprehensive, scrip- 
tural, and philosophical views which they present. While you 
have defined with clearness the principles of interpretation which 
should guide us in the exposition of Prophecy, you have also 
shown, by many felicitous examples, how these principles are to 
be applied, so as to render their importance obvious to every 
intelligent reader. The work should be in the hands of all theo- 
logical students." — Rev. J. M. Mathews, D, B. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

The reader will perceive that the eighth Discourse 
does not make a part of the series. It was added 
chiefly on account of the connection of the subject of 
it with that of the others. 



Tc the late Senior Class, and the present Middle and 
Senior Classes, of the General Theological Sem- 
inar]/. 

My Dear Young Friends, — 

In compliance with your kind request, this little 
volume on the Origin and Character of Scriptural Pro- 
phecy now makes its appearance. I offer no apology 
/or the publication, as it was within my power to with- 
hold it. But, believing that the Discourses imbodied 
principles both correct in themselves and practically 
useful, I felt the less reluctance to acquiesce in your 
wish, and to give them publicity. I was further influ- 
enced by the consideration that the time which, during 
our divinity course, can be devoted to this most in- 
teresting and important department, is so very limited, 
that the student can hardly get even the most meagre 
outline of it. And yet its usefulness and practical bear- 
ing can scarcely be overrated, especially in the present 
state of the Christian world. Although the few pages 
here presented to you contain little more than general 
intimations and principles, they may suggest better 



VI DEDICATION. 

thoughts, more perfect directions, and fuller develop- 
ments founded thereon. To you and others engaged 
in theological studies, must the Church look for these. 
The foundation which, by the good providence of God, 
you are here in a condition to lay, may become the 
groundwork of some noble superstructure of Christian 
industry, enterprise, energy and talent, brought into ac- 
tivity, cherished, directed, encouraged, and propelled by 
divine grace flowing from the fountain of all wisdom. 
Although it is a truth of which you ought never to lose 
sight, that in cultivating theological science as well as 
practical religion, you can do nothing without God, yet 
you ought to be equally impressed by the encouraging 
truth, that his aid is ever ready to give effect to your 
endeavors. That your appreciation of the vast impor- 
tance of forming a thorough acquaintance with his re- 
vealed word as the only firm basis of a lasting system 
of theology, may be strengthened and increased, and 
that your studies therein may be blessed with abundant 
success to your own satisfaction and to the glory of hi3 
great name, is the sincere prayer of your affectionate 
friend and servant in the Lord, 

SAMUEL H. TURNER. 

Seminary, October. 1851. 



(Cnuhiti*. 



DISCOURSE I. 

PAQS 

PROPHECY ITS DIVINE ORIGIN, 1 

discourse n. 

ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT AND CERTAINTY, . . .18 

discourse in. 

ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT AND CERTAINTY CONTINUED, . 38 

DISCOURSE IV. 

PROPHECY COMMUNICATED IN VARIOUS -WAYS, . . .59 

DISCOURSE V. 

PROPHETIC VISION, 79 

DISCOURSE VI. 

PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE 101 

DISCOURSE VII. 

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE INTERPRETER, . . . .125 

DISCOURSE vni. 

THE BLESSING OF JAPHETH, ...... 148 

NOTES, .......... 171 



DISCOURSE I. 

prophecy: its divine origin. 

No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpreta- 
tion : for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of 
man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the 
Holy Ghost.— 2 Peter i. 20, 21. 

The genuineness and canonical authority of 
the second epistle of St. Peter have been sub- 
jected to some doubt. In the very early ages 
of the church, its claim to apostolic origin was 
for a time unsettled ; and its remarkable coin- 
cidence in some respects with the epistle of 
St. Jude, has, in modern times, led certain 
writers to imagine that portions of the one 
epistle have been borrowed from the other. 
The similarity which alone has been supposed 
to sanction this opinion may perhaps be ac- 
counted for, if we consider that the writers 
were intimate associates, and in their descrip- 
tions and censures had the same class of 
persons in view, if not indeed the same in- 
dividuals; and the temporary hesitancy of 
some portions of the early church in recog- 
1 



PROPHECY : 



nizing the letter as the second of the distin- 
guished apostle, shows clearly how extremely 
cautious they were not to put the stamp of in- 
spired authority on any production, without the 
most direct and unexceptionable evidence of 
the legitimacy of its claim. Allusions to the 
epistle, and quotations from it, found in the 
writings of the earliest fathers,* abundantly 
prove that from the latter part of the first cen- 
tury it was regarded as a Christian production, 
worthy of the highest consideration. The inter- 
nal evidence compels the candid reader either 
to allow its genuineness and divine character, 
or to stigmatize it as an imposture, a pious fraud, 
bearing on its very face the marks of grossest 
hypocrisy, not to say blasphemy. The extrava- 
gance of the latter supposition, its utter incon- 
sistency with the universally admitted laws of 
evidence and with the whole tenor of the epistle 
itself, is too palpably evident to require a word 
of illustration. 

The class of persons whom the apostle finds 
it necessary to warn and rebuke, were grossly 
immoral in their lives. As consistency required, 
they became thoroughly infidel in their max- 
ims, and ridiculed the idea of divine revelation, 
and any expectations founded on prophetic in- 
spiration. But the future f glorious and power- 
ful coming of the once despised Galilean is 
unhesitatingly affirmed by St. Peter. He ap 

* Note L f Note II. 



ITS DIVINE ORIGIN. 3 

peals to the miraculous proof afforded by the 
Lord himself, of which he gives the fact of the 
transfiguration as the most striking and illustri- 
ous exhibition. He appeals also to the no less 
impressive evidence developed by the fulfil- 
ment of prophecy. In this connection he in- 
troduces the important declaration of the text : 
" Knowing this first," as a matter of principal 
interest, "that no prophecy of the Scripture is 
of any private interpretation : for the prophecy 
came not in old time by the will of man, but 
holy men of God spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost." 

The words prophet and prophecy are usually 
in common language limited to the idea of pre- 
dicting future events, not discernible by merely 
human foresight and sagacity. Such limitation, 
however, is not in accordance with its general 
use in Scripture. It is not essential to the char- 
acter of a prophet as such, that he shall an- 
nounce things to come. The proper, and proba- 
bly the original meaning of this word is, one 
who speaks as God's substitute or ambassador. 
Thus it is said of Moses, " I have made thee 
a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron shall be thy 
prophet"* of which the language that precedes 
is explanatory : " He shall be thy spokesman 
unto the people ; he shall be to thee instead of 
a moitth, and thou shalt be to him instead of 
God."\ To the same purpose we read in the 

* Exod. vii. 1. f ftid- iv - 16 - 



4: prophecy: 

prophet Jeremiah, " If thou take forth the pre- 
cious from the vile, thou shalt be as my ?nouth."* 
The two words anciently used by the Greeks to 
denote this character, seem to be nearly equiva- 
lent,f meaning one who speaks for, (before,) or 
under, that is, in the place of another. This is 
undoubtedly the meaning of the term where it 
first occurs in the Bible, in the narrative of Abra- 
ham's residence with Abimelech. The Almighty 
warns the king of Gerar in a dream not to in- 
jure the patriarch, adding : " For he is a pro- 
phet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt 
live.";): The friend of God is thus declared to 
be a sacred personage, the interpreter of God, 
speaking as his agent. This is also a very usual 
sense of the word in the New Testament. A 
prophet is a messenger of God, divinely inspired 
or directed and commissioned to communicate 
his will to men, to extend the knowledge of his 
character, and thus to advance his glory. 

Prophecy, therefore, might be understood in 
the enlarged sense of religious truths promul- 
ged through divine influence, and the text might 
be supposed to involve the assertion, that such 
communications are not to be at all subjected to 
the scrutiny of private judgment. But such an 
exposition would be at variance with the whole 
analogy of God's disclosures to his creatures, 
and especially with that of his revealed word, 

* Jer. xv. 19. \ Upo^m and viroffirns. 

| Gen. xx. 7. 



ITS DIVINE OEIGIN. 5 

which uniformly appeals to the conscience and 
understanding of every reader and hearer, re- 
quiring him to use his best efforts in order to 
comprehend and appreciate its truths. Neither 
would such a view of the word comport with 
the antithetic character of the next verse ; for 
the supposition that individual judgment is not 
to be applied in order to ascertain the meaning 
of God's word, has no necessary or logical con- 
nection with the statement, that " holy men of 
God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." This surely affords no reason against 
using one's own private endeavors in order to 
understand it. Besides, the connection in which 
the language of the text occurs, and the general 
scope of the apostle's address, proves that he 
employed the word in its more restricted mean- 
ing. Its immediate association with the state- 
ment of our Lord's transfiguration, as another 
ground in addition to that of miracles whereon 
to establish his divine authority, and the char- 
acter of the infidel sensualists opposed, who 
ridiculed any expectation of the fulfilment of 
ancient predictions, may also be considered as 
confirming this signification, and compelling us 
to understand the apostle as speaking of pre- 
dictions properly so called, and not of religious 
instructions in general, though they be divinely 
communicated. 

Taking the word prophecy in the text in this 
limited meaning, the apostle's language has 
1* 



6 peophecy: 

been explained thus : c Prophecy is not to be 
interpreted in accordance with the mere will of 
the interpreter. He is not to be influenced by 
his own private views, his prepossessions and 
prejudices. He is to use all proper aids, and 
with candor and unbiassed mind to receive the 
prophetic declarations of the inspired authors.' 
But this remark is equally applicable to any 
other part of the sacred oracles ; and indeed it 
is so self-evident a truth, that a formal an- 
nouncement of it would seem wholly unneces- 
sary. The more commonly received exposition, 
therefore, is this : ' The predictions contained 
in holy scripture are not to be interpreted sim- 
ply by the ordinary principles applied to com- 
positions in general. Being in their very nature 
peculiar, the principles on which they should be 
explained must partake of the same character. 
In as much as they contain accounts of events 
to transpire in future periods, it is not to be ex- 
pected that a clear view of their meaning can 
be obtained, until the events predicted shall 
have taken place. "We must patiently wait for 
the development of the facts, a comparison of 
which with the prophetic announcement can 
alone determine the meaning. No prophecy 
of scripture is of its own interpretation. It 
does not, like other propositions relating to facts 
or doctrines, contain within its own expressions 
its evident and undeniable sense. The future 
events which are the subject of the prediction 



ITS DIVINE ORIGIN. 7 

must become matters of history, before we can 
understand the prophet's declarations.' 

The general statement contained in this view 
of the apostle's language is undoubtedly cor- 
rect. But it must be taken with suitable limita- 
tions. The prophet, when under divine direction 
to announce events hereafter to transpire, or 
characters to come into the world, or certain 
states and conditions of society to be developed, 
addresses himself to his contemporaries ; and 
although it is not for them alone that he is made 
the agent to communicate the mind of God, yet 
undoubtedly his announcements are intended to 
convey to them some clear and intelligible 
thought. The whole prediction involved, in- 
deed, many particulars that were at the time 
obscure. It may have been difficult, and even 
impossible, to ascertain the meaning and bear- 
ing of all the circumstances and details of the 
prophecy ; to determine with certainty how 
much of it was literal, and how much involved 
in figure. There is reason to think that the 
prophet was not always conscious himself of 
the entire meaning of his own predictions, 
much less could they have been fully under- 
stood by others of his day. Still, they were so 
clear as to impart to the contemporaries of the 
prophet a general idea of what was foretold, 
sufficiently vivid, definite, and distinct, to awa- 
ken the attention of the serious and inquiring 
mind. The events themselves, when they took 



8 prophecy: 

place, threw additional light on the predictions, 
cleared up all their obscurities, and determined 
the meaning and application of all doubtful ex- 
pressions. It may be granted, then, that the 
events must be brought in view, before the 
prophecies relating to them can be thoroughly 
understood and fully appreciated. 

Nevertheless, it is doubtful whether this is, 
after all, the necessary, or even the most prob- 
able meaning of the text. Certainly we need 
not thus limit the apostle's language. There is 
evidently an antithesis between the two parts 
of the two verses. " No prophecy of the Scrip- 
ture is of any private interpretation." The next 
verse gives the reason : " For the prophecy came 
not in old time by the will of man ; but," on the 
contrary, (as seems plainly implied,) "holy mei1 
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." According to the exposition just given, 
the latter statement does not imply a reason for 
the former, or stand in contradistinction to it. 
That the event predicted must be compared 
with the language of the prediction, may be 
very true ; but it is difficult to perceive how this 
is proved or illustrated by the statement, that 
the prophet spake under divine influence. This 
might be equally true, if such comparison were 
wholly unnecessary. 

The same objection may be urged against 
another view which has been taken of this pas- 
sage. It has been thought to mean, that the 



ITS DIVINE ORIGIN. 9 

prophecies of holy scripture are not to be limit- 
ed to the particular subject specified by the 
prophet. His language has a much wider ap- 
plication, comprehending, it may be, many 
subjects analogous, in a greater or less degree, 
to that originally designated. Thus, for ex- 
ample, the predictions respecting Babylon, 
Edom, Jerusalem, are not to be limited to the 
historical objects thus particularized. They 
comprehend also all those other objects, moral, 
ecclesiastical, spiritual, of which these were 
representatives.* Thus the apostle is supposed 
to characterize prophecy. ' It is not of private 
or isolated interpretation, but in its field of view 
is comprehensive and enlarged.' Without at 
all questioning the truth and importance of the 
principle involved in this exposition, it is suffi- 
cient for my immediate purpose to remark, that 
it implies the same want of connection before 
noted with the subsequent statement which the 
apostle makes as a reason for the former one. 
It is proper, therefore, to examine, whether St. 
Peter's words do not admit another meaning, 
free from this objection. 

If we read the whole text attentively, and 
without having adopted any preconceived view, 
we cannot fail to perceive that the apostle's 
leading thought is this : ' That scriptural proph- 
ecy was delivered under divine influence ; its 
origin is heavenly.' The latter of the two 

* Note HI. 



10 peophecy: 

verses contains this thought expressed both 
negatively and affirmatively : " prophecy came 
not by the will of man, but by the Holy Ghost." 
It is impossible to make this explanation any 
plainer. And the negative expression of the 
thought is only a repetition of the statement 
made in the former verse, "no prophecy of 
the scripture is of any private interpretation ;" 
the antithetic clause, which implies what is 
a proof, is the affirmative expression with which 
the apostle concludes : "Holy men spake as 
they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The 
word rendered private, often denotes what is 
one's own, what properly or peculiarly belongs 
to one. The author therefore intends to deny 
that any prophecy of scripture is the result of 
mere human effort at explication and solution* 
of God's purposes and dealings, and to assert 
that it can only proceed from divine influence. 
c ISTo prophecy of scripture is of one's own in- 
terpretation (of what God may intend and do ;) 
for not by the will of man did prophecy at any 
time come, but holy men of God spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost.' 

It must be obvious to the reader of the whole 
epistle, that this view of the text coincides with 
the immediate context, and also with the occa- 
sion which led the apostle to write it. The di- 
vine origination of scriptural prophecy is proof 

* 'EmXvaii a loosing, solution: Passow. In the later 
Greek writers, it is used for exposition. 



ITS DIVINE OEIGIK. 11 

that he and his brethren had "not followed 
cunningly devised fables," and was also suffi- 
cient assurance, that he, under whose inspiring 
guidance it had proceeded, would in his own 
time accomplish it, both by inflicting punish- 
ment on the mocking rejecters of the truth, and 
by rewarding those who in faith and patience 
quietly awaited the result. 

This important portion of scripture presents 
us, therefore, with the essential characteristic 
of a true prophet. Ignorant and conceited 
objectors to revelation, unwilling to take the 
trouble carefully to investigate divine pro- 
phecies, and at the same time knowing just 
enough of the subject to perceive that it has its 
difficulties, have not scrupled to represent them 
as productions that cannot be understood. They 
have compared these oracles of God to the un- 
connected ravings of the agitated Sibyl, or the 
enigmatical sayings of the priests of Apollo, 
susceptible of any meaning that circumstance 
and passion may find it convenient to suggest. 
They represent the prophets as visionary enthu- 
siasts, men of overheated imagination, who 
spoke with an inaccuracy and obscurity which, 
while it made them unintelligible to others, 
proved that they themselves had no very clear 
perception of their own meaning, or purposely 
expressed it with ambiguity. Hence it would 
follow, of course, that they must have been 
either ignorant or cunning, or both, and that 



12 prophecy: 

their productions must partake of their char- 
acter. 

But there is another class of objectors, the 
very opposite to these. It is curious to remark, 
and no less interesting to observe the fact, as 
affording a striking comment on the illusions 
of the human mind when deceived by mis- 
guiding error, that in our own day certain dis- 
tinguished opponents of divine revelation have 
taken a stand the very opposite. Ask the learn- 
ed disciple of naturalism what he thinks of the 
Old Testament prophets. He will tell you that 
they were men of extensive information, pro- 
found wisdom, enlarged views of the political 
and religious condition of their own and of 
surrounding countries, strongly attached to the 
theocracy, able to penetrate farther into the 
probable results of causes in operation than men 
in general, persons who were enlightened states- 
men, thoroughly acquainted with the history of 
past ages, perfectly conversant with the springs 
of human action, and particularly with the po- 
litical views of nations connected by interest 
and policy with the Jewish people. They were 
men of extraordinary sagacity, and, from the 
well-known operations of causes with which 
they were familiar, they were able to calculate 
with moral certainty the results which they 
predicted and announced as oracles from God ; 
men who occasionally held honorable stations 
in the community, and in point of influence 



ITS DIVINE OEIGIN. 13 

and practical authority were not inferior to the 
heads of the nation. But, although the attempts 
that have been made to support this scheme are 
exceedingly plausible, its defenders have been 
obliged to set at naught all historical evidence 
militating against it. They have been com- 
pelled to abandon the authenticity of several 
books, although uniformly sustained by a clear 
and undeniable tradition of the people of whose 
literature they make a part, reaching — so far as 
we have information enabling us to judge — up 
to the days of their respective authors. They 
have been compelled to adopt interpretations 
not merely at variance with those generally and 
from time immemorial received, but also with 
the whole character of the Bible as such, and 
better suited to the fables of oriental mytholo- 
gy ; interpretations assumed without proof of 
the theory on which they rest, and contradic- 
tory and frigid in the results that they exhibit. 
But the gratuitous assertions of infidel igno- 
rance, and the equally gratuitous claims of 
rationalistic learning, are alike utterly inade- 
quate to explain the phenomena of the prophet- 
ic Scriptures. A Scriptural prophet is neither 
an ignorant and crafty fanatic, nor a sagacious 
politician, but a divinely directed and inspired 
teacher of true religion. In the sense of the word 
as now under consideration, he is a person endow- 
ed with the faculty of foreseeing what is future. 
As a seer he looks into ages to come, and des- 
2 



14 prophecy: 

cries distant events far beyond the ken of human 
view. His declarations are of absolute certainty 
and of vital truth. He sees in his inspired 
consciousness the subjects announced as al- 
ready in existence. He smites a country with 
the rod of his mouth, and again by his power- 
ful words he delivers it. God communicates 
to him the message, and he cannot but an- 
nounce it. No summit of Helicon or Parnassus 
raises him nearer to the skies. ]STo Castalian 
fountain, no gushing waters of Pimplea poured 
forth in never ceasing abundance, moisten his 
sacred lips. On the top of Zion he inhales the 
air of heaven, and drinks in the celestial gale. 
Or else it is the heavenly fire from God's own 
altar that warms him. Seraphs lay upon his 
lips the purifying flame, and the illuminating 
Spirit enlightens and animates his soul. The 
"holy man" is stirred by God himself, and 
speaks " as he is moved by the Holy Ghost." 

From this view of the origin of Scriptural 
prophecies, it might reasonably be supposed 
that the manner in which they are presented to 
us in the Bible, would not be in all respects 
similar to that of compositions in general, whe- 
ther sacred or otherwise. And this is true. If, 
therefore, the prophetic declarations appear oc- 
casionally obscure and abrupt — if the language 
in which they are imbodied is sometimes hy- 
perbolical — if they are expressed in symbols or 
enigmatical allegories — if to us they often seem 



ITS DIVINE OKIGIU. 15 

to be disconnected — if different and widely 
separated events are brought together — if tran- 
sitions from one fact or class of facts to another 
are discernible — and if other peculiarities which 
we cannot easily, or perhaps at all, explain, 
are thought to be perceived ; all these circum- 
stances would afford no valid ground of objec- 
tion to their divine origination. The peculiar 
nature of this department of revelation may 
make all these peculiarities not only consistent 
with it, but most expedient. The true lesson 
to be learned, therefore, is the duty of religious 
and cautious investigation, of attentive exami- 
nation of the history and language of the Bible 
in general, and also of the history of God's 
church, and the bearing of secular events on 
its condition and character, in order that we 
may be the better prepared to form a judgment 
respecting any particular portion which it may 
be our intention and desire to understand. 

The divine origin of Scriptural prophecy af- 
fords a sure indication of its truth. This is 
obvious from the essential character of its au- 
thor : " God is not a man, that he should lie." 
Truth is his very nature, and *' he cannot deny 
himself." Falsehood or error cannot possibly 
proceed from him : " no lie is of the truth." 
Deceit characterizes the source of imposition, 
the Devil ; and we know that in various ages 
and countries his priests and priestesses have 
availed themselves of the credulity of ignorant 



16 prophecy: 

and fanatical devotees, to secure for themselves 
and their caste honors and dignities and wealth. 
Unprincipled deceit has trampled on simplicity. 
Yes, and to the shame of Christian ecclesiastics 
it must be confessed, that villany and fraud 
have sometimes lurked within the folds of the 
sacerdotal garb, and that priests of the church 
have enriched themselves by selling "lies in 
the name of the Lord ;" priests of the church, 
I mean, by outward calling, but " ministers of 
Satan," though, like him who chose and or- 
dained them, they may have appeared as " an- 
gels of light." ISTot thus "spake" those "holy 
men of old, who were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." Gazing at the truth, fully imbued 
with the truth, commissioned by the very Truth, 
they delivered to mankind nothing but truth. 
" If we receive the witness of man, the witness 
of God is greater." 

It is hardly necessary to remark, that, if the 
prophecies of Scripture are divine in their ori- 
gin, they must be of the very highest impor- 
tance. Infinite wisdom neither plans nor exe- 
cutes anything in vain. If the ordinary results 
of God's providence are always directed and 
influenced by this principle, much more must 
those be which proceed from peculiar interpo- 
sitions. If holy men have spoken to their 
weak and sinful brethren truths communicated 
by the source of truth, it were preposterous to 
imagine that their communications can be 



ITS DIVINE ORIGIN". 17 

wanting in interest and importance. If God 
ntters his voice, we may be sure that it must 
be u a mighty voice," and reasonably expect 
that "all the earth will keep silence before 
him." Let man, whom he addresses, atten- 
tively and reverently listen, and in his inmost 
soul let him feel the spirit of the supplication, 
" Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." 
2 



DISCOURSE II. 

prophecy: its increasing development 
and certainty. 

We have also a more sure word of prophecy. — 2 Peter i. 19. 

A favorite objection urged by infidel writers 
against the reality and truth of inspired pro- 
phecy, has ever been its supposed obscurity. 
'Your pretended prophecies,' says the skeptic, 
are unintelligible. The defenders of their di- 
vine authority, and those who have undertaken 
to expound their meaning, prove the validity 
of the objection by their unsatisfactory theories 
and contradictory interpretations. Almost all 
the leading events that have marked the world's 
history, are found by one or another of these 
self-styled expositors in the symbolical and 
prophetic books. "We are taught by different 
instructors to read, in the same luminous page, 
of Greece, or of Rome, Heathen or Papal — of 
Mohammedanism, or of the Reformation. The 
downfall and decay of Babylon, the second 
overthrow of Jerusalem, the conquest of Rome 
by the northern barbarians, the future judg- 



PROPHECY, ETC. 19 

ment and destruction of the finally impenitent, 
have all been elicited from the very same pro- 
phecy, and to the complete satisfaction of the 
writers, the last of whom demolishes the struc- 
ture of the former, in order to found on the 
same site his own splendid building, which is 
doomed in its turn to crumble into dust, that 
the ground may be cleared for another equally 
permanent superstructure. Antiochus, JSTero, 
Domitian, Mohammed, the Pope, and Luther, 
have at various times appeared to various ex- 
positors standing out in bold relief in the very 
same niche of the prophetic temple, and to the 
eyes of the diversified beholders each as clear 
and bright as the noon-day.' Hence it is 
sagely inferred that documents, the contents of 
which admit such varied and contrary exposi- 
tions, cannot be relied on with any certainty, 
and therefore cannot possibly have emanated 
from God. 

Now the objection, which at first view car- 
ries along with it no little plausibility, loses 
sight of two very important considerations. 

In the first place, it does not consider that, 
among the multitude of writers on the pro- 
phetic books, very few are in any good degree 
competent to the task which they have under- 
taken to perform. They are in general either 
too little acquainted with the world's history, 
or (as is more frequently the case), with the 
nature, scope, characteristics, and language of 



zU prophecy: 

Scriptural prophecy ; or else they come to its 
study and exposition under the influence of a 
strong preconceived bias to some favorite and 
cherished system ; and very often both causes 
combine to secure incompetency in the exposi- 
tor. It will be obvious to any one who reflects, 
that these causes may readily lead a man to 
see in the prophetic volume any events or per- 
sonages with which his mind is already filled, 
others more likely to have been intended by 
the Spirit being either unknown to him, or lost 
sight of, wholly or in part, by reason of the 
halo of glory with which his own imagination 
has encircled those which he has been accus- 
tomed to regard with undivided attention. The 
same remark is applicable in a greater or less 
degree to doctrinal views, but perhaps most of 
all to prophetic, wherein theories and hypothe- 
ses exercise unlimited influence on the ardent 
mind of an aspirant for fame in some untrod- 
den region of investigation. 

The objection errs, too, in assuming a mis- 
taken view of prophecy. It supposes that di- 
vine predictions must be as plainly exhibited 
in the sacred volume as histories or biographies 
or prominent doctrines, and that the details 
must be all full and complete ; so that, when 
rightly understood, the prophetic declarations 
become historical narratives, and like exact 
miniature portraits, delineate every feature and 
lineament of the original with the nicest accu- 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 21 

racy. But this is unreasonable in itself, and 
unfounded in fact. With some most striking 
exceptions, prophecy does not go into particular 
detail. It contents itself with presenting lead- 
ing characteristics and general descriptions ; 
. much of which may apply, and some of which 
may have been intended to apply, to a series 
of events or a line of personages, closely con- 
nected indeed in the mysterious and providen- 
tial agency of God in his dealings with men, 
and yet, to ordinary human view, disjoined and 
widely separated both in the time and place of 
their existence and action. The true and full 
meaning, therefore, of prophetic announcements 
can only be learned by aid of the gradual de- 
velopments of God's kingdom, as it advances 
to stability and perfection. 

This truth, it is believed, is imbodied in the 
words of the text. It is my purpose to lay be- 
fore you some prominent views respecting its 
meaning, with such remarks as the apostle's 
proposition may suggest. 

St. Peter describes the " word of prophecy" 
as " more sure." Does he intend to institute a 
comparison with some other ground of appeal 
or test of truth ? Embarrassed by difficulties 
which attend such a supposition, several old 
and able expositors have suggested that the 
comparative degree must not be strictly re- 
garded, and that we may consider the language 
either as a declaration of the positwe certainty 



prophecy: 



of the proposition, or that prophecy affords abso- 
lutely the most certain criterion of divine reve- 
lation. In opposition to both views it may be 
said, that they are not sufficiently sustained by 
good usage of scriptural language. In the lat- 
ter case, the comparative could not properly be* 
employed, unless every other evidence were 
inferior to that mentioned, which is not true ; 
and in the former, it could not rightly be used 
in the connection in which it stands. Neither 
can any reason be given why the writer should 
employ language in itself unfit to convey the 
thought intended, and very likely to mislead 
the reader. 

The apostle asserts the divine truth and vast 
importance of the gospel, and speaks of the 
"powerful coming of Christ." He gives in a 
few words the leading evidence of this, namely, 
miracles and prophecy, introducing it by the 
remark, " we have not followed cunningly de- 
vised fables." Hence it has been thought, that, 
in the words of the text, he sets the " more sure 
word of prophecy" in contradistinction to those 
" cunningly devised fables" on which impostors 
in all ages have attempted to found their sys- 
tems. The opposition would undoubtedly be 
strikingly correct. The prophetic declaration 
on which the Christian relies, is the declaration 
of God. " Holy men of old spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost." The oracles 
of the heathen, and all other such claims to 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 23 

divine inspiration, are either the artful decep- 
tion of the devil, or the crafty schemes of his 
emissaries ; and they bear on their very face 
the impress of fable and pretence, thus proving 
the legitimacy of their diabolical descent. 
Still, however, it does not seem sufficiently 
weighty for the very important connection in 
which the passage stands, to speak of God's 
prophetic declarations as "surer" than Satanic 
imposition or hypocritical wickedness. It is 
possible, indeed, that by a figure of speech 
whereby less is said than intended, such may 
be the apostle's idea. It is possible that he 
may say, our "prophecy" is "surer" than 
their " fable ;" meaning at the same time that 
the fable is a lie, the offspring of its father, the 
devil, and that the prophecy is the most genuine 
certainty, proceeding verily from the immacu- 
late and holy and necessarily true One, whose 
nature is entirely, that is, infinitely and eter- 
nally and essentially, the antagonism of deceit 
or error. Such language abounds in holy scrip- 
ture. And it shows us, how immeasurably re- 
moved from human feelings of weakness, im- 
perfection or doubt, is the Spirit which indited 
its sacred instructions, in the calm and digni- 
fied simplicity both of manner and language 
with which it clothes its sublime, its heavenly 
originated and heavenly guiding doctrines. 
Still, it is not easy to say why the apostle should 
limit his contrast to the prophetic " word," when 



24 prophecy: 

it certainly applied with equal force to the mi- 
raculous evidence, of which the " voice that 
came from heaven," mentioned by him in this 
same connection, is so remarkable a type. 

But it may be said : " allowing that the apos- 
tle's antithesis does not lie in the comparison of 
true prophecy with lying fable ; what is more 
natural and more intimately associated with the 
context, than the interpretation which makes 
him compare prophecy with miracles as the 
more reliable standard of the truth of divine 
revelation. 'The voice from heaven we heard,' 
indeed, 'in the holy mount,' but 'we have also 
the more sure word of prophecy.' The miracles 
we admit and rely on ; but we recognize the 
' word of prophecy' as stronger and surer evi- 
dence." In reference to this view of the mean- 
ing of the text, allow me to offer a few reflec- 
tions. 

It appears exceedingly improbable that the 
apostle would compare the value of two kinds 
of evidence, either of which is in itself abun- 
dantly sufficient to prove the divine origin of 
the gospel revelation. Nothing of the sort ap- 
pears elsewhere in the Bible, which stands firm 
in the consciousness of its own divinity, content 
with the demonstration which appears in its own 
character, and in the influence of its doctrines 
on the hearts and lives of those who embrace 
them. Neither is it possible to establish such a 
principle to any practical purpose. The influ- 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 25 

ence of different sorts of evidence depends much 
on circumstances, association, diversity of natu- 
ral and mental character, of education, training 
and habits. What would be most convincing 
to one would fail to give satisfaction to another. 
Besides, it would be exceedingly difficult, if 
not impossible, to show that the evidence from 
prophecy is really in itself more weighty and 
certain than that from miracles. For the reason 
just alleged, it were idle to attempt such a dem- 
onstration ; and for this very cause, it would 
seem equally idle to imagine that the point were 
settled by the inspired authority of the text. 
Indeed, it has frequently been said, on the con- 
trary, that the evidence of the miracles of our 
Lord and his apostles must have been over- 
whelming and irresistible, and therefore that the 
proof of Christianity cannot be so strong to us, 
as it was to those of that age who were eye- 
witnesses of the mighty works. But the sound- 
ness of such reasoning may well be questioned. 
Before such a conclusion can be drawn, several 
important points must be settled which involve 
no little difficulty, and admit of considerable 
argument on either side, and on which men of 
acuteness and information have entertained op- 
posite opinions. What constitutes a miracle? 
Is it an operation out of the course of nature ? 
But who can determine what the course of na- 
ture is % Who dares to claim a full knowledge 
of all nature's ordinary laws ? Will it be said, 
3 



26 prophecy: 

as an amendment to the definition, out of the 
course of nature as known by us? Then the 
miracle of one age becomes the simple opera- 
tion of the better informed and more successful 
experimenter of the next, and the youth's amuse- 
ment or child's play, of some subsequent one. 

Again, the characteristics of a miracle being 
settled, it will still remain to be asked : May 
not the senses be deceived ? This is not at all 
uncommon. And then, is there any necessary 
connection between such stupendous external 
operations, and the proposition that certain 
moral and religious truths inculcated by those 
who perform them are of divine origin, and pro- 
mulged by divine command % And, admitting 
such either necessary or divinely imposed con- 
nection, and also that the works referred to 
were really miraculous, the point is still to be 
settled, were they wrought by "the finger of 
God," or by the influence of powerful spirits 
hostile to his will and purposes ? If the benevo- 
lent character of the works be appealed to in 
support of the former alternative, may it not be 
replied, that " the old serpent," whose cunning 
is proverbial, may have transformed himself 
into an angel of temporary mercy to advance 
his own cause in his own diabolical way ? that 
he may, in a comparatively few instances, have 
done good in order the more effectually to se- 
cure unbounded and permanent evil ? The 
opinion now, and for many years most prevalent, 



ITS INCEEASING DEVELOPMENT. 27 

is that which limits the performance of miracles 
to God. But this was far from being the gene- 
ral sentiment in the first ages, either of Jews or 
Christians. It was believed that " Beelzebub" 
could " cast out demons," and perform mighty 
works out of and beyond the ordinary course of 
nature. If, then, we give to these and other 
similar considerations their due weight, we shall 
see that miracles, and those even which were 
marked by an apparently godlike benevolence, 
might fail to convince a prejudiced, uninformed 
and irreligious mind of the truth of a system 
wholly adverse to a long-cherished theory, in 
which personal worldly aggrandizement and 
national vanity and pride were most deeply in- 
terested. On the other hand, the gradual 
development of God's providence and grace, 
in perfect accordance with prophetic inti- 
mations, announcements and promises, must 
strengthen the influence of divine truth in the 
thoughtful and examining mind, and add such 
accumulated weight to the importance of the 
sure word of prophecy, as the contemporaries 
of our Lord and his apostles could not possibly 
have been able to estimate, and consequently 
could not have felt. On the one side of the 
question it may be said, u If they hear not 
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be 
persuaded though one rose from the dead ;" and 
on the other, "Prophets and kings have desired 
to see the things which ye see and have not seen 



28 prophecy: 

them, and to hear the things which ye hear and 
have not heard them." 

The most probable exposition would seem to 
be that which is both the simplest and also the 
most natural meaning of the original terms. 
"We have the prophetic word" (or discourses, 
the singular being taken in a comprehensive 
sense,) " the surer ;" that is, prophecy has be- 
come to us stronger, its evidence is now more 
satisfactory and conclusive than it formerly 
was. This view of the text conveys a plain 
and indubitable truth. When the apostle wrote, 
not a few of the obscurities of prophecy had al- 
ready been cleared up ; many of the types and 
symbols of former dispensations had been ac- 
complished ; historical events had placed in 
bright light predictions which before were dim 
and obscure ; the coming of Christ, the circum- 
stances connected with it, the events of his life, 
death, resurrection, ascension, the spreading of 
his kingdom, and the evident indications of the 
overthrow of his enemies; all these conspired 
to demonstrate the truth of Old Testament pre- 
dictions, by strengthening the evidence that 
they were dictated " by the Holy Ghost." If 
history is the interpreter of prophecy, the com- 
ment had been already stamped on the world's 
page, making the once obscure text intelligible 
and clear. 

Thus understood, the language of St. Peter 
conveys a most important truth : the full mean- 



ITS INCREASING- DEVELOPMENT. 29 

ing of prophecy displays itself in the gradual 
progress of human events. The providence of 
God produces, disposes, controls and modifies 
those facts and circumstances which present 
themselves to man's observation, which his 
omniscient eye had foreseen, and which his 
Spirit had foretold. The beautiful figure by 
which the apostle illustrates his statement and 
urges attention to his very important theme, 
confirms the correctness of the exposition. " We 
have the prophetic declarations which become 
surer, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, 
as unto a light that shmeth in a dark place, un- 
til the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your 
hearts." The comparison is evidently suggested 
by what is said in the book of Proverbs respect- 
ing the religious man's path : " It shineth more 
and more unto the perfect day." The morning 
begins to break from out the Cimmerian dark- 
ness that envelops half the world. The faint 
blushes of dawn gradually steal over the death- 
like slumber of the misty east, and pale the 
glimmerings of the stars. Every moment the 
horizon brightens. The objects of earth that 
lay in dark, confused, and undistinguishable 
shapelessness, begin to loom out from amid the 
heavy dull mass, and to assume renewed. forms 
of beauty or of grandeur. At length the liglit- 
bringer, the day's own God-appointed ruler, 
walks from his royal chamber, beaming benev- 
olence, and radiating healthful splendor on the 
3* 



30 prophecy: 

subjects of his vast domain. The prolific morn- 
ing sheds a brightness on the happiness of her 
children, every one of whose lineaments she 
marks with fresh clearness and draws out in 
evident and beautiful proportion, to the enrap- 
tured and grateful delight of all who are blessed 
with the eye to behold them. 

Thus also it is with divine prophecy. At 
first it is vague and obscure. General promises 
of benefit or threats of evil may be perceived, 
but the particulars of the gratuity or penal in- 
fliction are not discernible. Implicit faith is 
required on this ground, that the promiser and 
threatener is the God of truth, the Being whose 
infinite excellence is shown in this, that there 
is one thing which he is unable to do : u he can- 
not lie." But the world's history is unrolled, 
every page and every line marked by the hand- 
writing of Him who sees the end from the be- 
ginning ; and, as the letters on the scroll become 
legible, "the word of prophecy " becomes clearer 
and clearer, until at last its truthfulness and cer- 
tainty and demonstrated divinity shine forth in 
such dazzling illumination, that the simple and 
sincere inquirer falls down to worship the om- 
niscient and benevolent One, who has been 
pleased to establish truth by thus developing 
truth. 

Viewed in this light, the words of the text 
suggest reflections in an almost unlimited de- 
gree. But our time at present will not permit 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 31 

us to develop the thoughts which they contain. 
"We must content ourselves with admiring the 
beauty and promise of the bud. The brilliancy 
and fragrance of the perfectly unfolded flower 
must be reserved in hope rather than enjoyed 
in present gratification. Let me, however, ven- 
ture to suggest one caution, and to lay down one 
principle. 

If prophecy were originally like a glimmering 
light, endeavoring to penetrate the gloomy re- 
cesses of some obscure place, it would be absurd 
to suppose that in the early very dark periods 
and localities, it could have shed a full splendor 
on the regions of divine truth. The caution, 
therefore, which I would suggest, is this : not 
to presume that, because we, living in the meri- 
dian blaze of the gospel's light, have clear and 
definite ideas of its system, the same may be 
said of our patriarchal fathers. If so, where 
would be the truth of our Saviour's assertion, 
" Many prophets and kings have desired to see 
the things that ye see, and have not seen them ?" 
And yet there is scarcely a more common error. 
Listen to one authorized proclaimer and exposi- 
tor of divine revelation, and he will tell you 
that our first parents knew well the whole series 
of consequences resulting to the race, which 
would follow their transgression of that positive 
law which God had imposed upon them. Ask 
him for his proof, and he has nothing to say, 
except that, in his judgment, it is reasonable so 



32 peophecy: 

to think. But in the judgment of others, it is 
quite unreasonable ; and on such a speculative 
point, the Bible says not one word. Look into . 
the admired pages of some distinguished com- 
mentator, and you will read that, immediately 
after the fall, the promise of a divine Ke- 
deemer was plainly announced to our progeni- 
tors, and received by them with a true Christian 
faith ; that they knew and embraced the doc- 
trines of Messiah's divinity, atonement and in- 
tercession, and looked for the constant aids of 
the Holy Spirit, to apply the full consolation 
of these doctrines to their souls. He will tell 
you, also, that when, after the expulsion from 
Eden, the first-born of the human family glad- 
dened the heart of his mother, she expressed 
her joy at the event in language which even 
the fullest knowledge of the union of the divine 
with the human nature in the Saviour would 
hardly warrant ; avowing her belief that by the 
birth of her son she had become the mother of 
" the very Jehovah !" * But the promise is en- 
veloped in the darkness of figure. It merely 
declares that the progeny of the woman shall 
crush the life-seat of the enemy. On the man- 
ner, the time, the circumstances, it maintains a 
profound silence. On what ground, then, is 
such a theory built ? On none other than an 
unproved tradition. 

So, again, the same class of interpreters un- 
* See Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. under atha, vii. 1, Note f. 



ITS INCEEASING DEVELOPMENT. 33 

hesitatingly affirm that God had respect to 
Abel's offering, because it was an animal vic- 
tim, and consequently recognized the offerer's 
faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, self-re- 
nunciation, and dependence on the sole merits 
of that Divine Redeemer who was to come into 
the world, and to die as an expiation for human 
sin. Cain's, on the contrary, was rejected, be- 
cause by preferring the fruits of the ground, he 
refused the one only atonement, showed his 
infidel character, and, to use the language of 
one of the most distinguished of this school, 
that he " had apostatized from the faith of a 
divine, but suffering and dying Saviour, and 
consequently was the first of deists."* But the 
Scripture uniformly and invariably assigns one 
reason, and only one, for the rejection of the 
elder brother's offering, and the acceptance of 
that of the younger. The latter " offered a 
more excellent sacrifice than" the former, be- 
cause he offered it "in faith." Cain's "works 
were evil, and his brother's righteous. "f Inspi- 
ration assigns no other reason than this : the 
one was a religious, holy man, living by faith ; 
the other was "of that wicked one," as appeared 
by the shocking fact, that he "slew his bro- 
ther." Even if the divine origin of animal and 
other sacrifices be admitted, as seems to be the 
most probable theory, we are still uninformed 
whether their typical character was understood 

* Parkhurst under noach, ad fin. f Heb.xi. 4. 1 John iii. 12. 



34: prophecy: 

by the primitive family of the human race, and 
consequently cannot argue from the affirmative 
that the one brother accepted and the other 
rejected the doctrine of an atoning Redeemer. 
That Abel's faith was manifested by the choice 
of a living victim rather than the productions 
of the ground, may be very true, but it is all 
assumed ; and the sacred narrative most natu- 
rally suggests to the reader, that each brother 
presented to the Lord what his own care had 
nurtured and perfected in the employment to 
which he had devoted himself. How minutely 
the early patriarchs were acquainted with the 
truths which "the gospel has brought to light," 
we cannot tell. In such circumstances, it is 
wisest to decide nothing, as in such cases posi- 
tive assertions are an affectation of knowledge 
which merely displays ignorance. The caution 
therefore suggested by the subject is this : not 
to make our own Christian knowledge the cri- 
terion and standard of the religious knowledge 
of preceding periods. The prophetic word has 
become stronger and clearer. 

The principle which I would submit to your 
serious consideration, as involving a most im- 
perative duty, and in perfect harmony with the 
statement of the text, is this : Prophecy already 
fulfilled contains a sufficient warrant for our 
faith in the truth and certainty of what is yet 
to be accomplished. 

Both have emanated from the same source. 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 35 

The former class demonstrates its divinity ; the 
latter most rightfully commands our faith in it. 
That certain predictions were uttered and re- 
corded hundreds of years before the correspond- 
ing events took place, and when no created 
sagacity could possibly foresee their coming, is 
capable of demonstration. The fall of existing 
empires, however magnificent and seemingly 
firm — the establishment of others with marked 
and distinct characteristics — the coming of a 
divine One, long promised and expected, com- 
prehending who and what he should be — the 
ruin and dispersion in various parts of the world 
of God's once covenant people — are very evi- 
dently recorded in some of the most ancient 
books of the Old Testament. And, in agree- 
ment with the record, the events have taken 
place. If, then, the same record contain pre- 
dictions the meaning and application of which 
we cannot discern, this is no reason for infer- 
ring their untruth, or even their doubtfulness. 
We may not be able to understand them. "We 
may have failed to observe the facts and cir- 
cumstances to which they relate. The things 
themselves may yet lie darkly covered in the 
unknown, mysterious future, and the time be 
yet to come when they shall burst into life and 
being, and throw light on the early predictions 
of ages lost in the remote past. In any case 
they are certain, and ought to be admitted with 



36 prophecy: 

an implicit faith; "for the word of the Lord 
hath spoken" them. 

The soundness of the principle is incontro- 
vertible, for the Scripture does itself appeal to 
it. I confine myself to the language of Isaiah : 
speaking in the person of God, he says, " Be- 
hold the former things are come to pass 1" 
Here is a plain appeal to the candor and ob- 
servation of his hearers, and it is immediately 
followed by the declaration, "New things do I 
declare." That "the former" had taken place 
is a guarantee for the reality of those " new 
things" which he immediately refers to. And 
soon after : " "Who, as I, shall declare it and 
set it in order, since I appointed the ancient 
people ? Have I not told thee from that time, 
and have declared it ? Ye are even my wit- 
nesses." This is intended, as the context 
plainly shows, to strengthen the faith of God's 
people in what had just before been predicted. 
And again : " I have declared the former things 
from the beginning, and they went forth out of 
my mouth, and I showed them ; I did them 
suddenly, and they came to pass. I have even 
from the beginning declared it to thee ; before 
it came, to pass, I showed it thee."* I admit 
that the connection in which these words stand 
proves that the chief design of the prophet is to 
satisfy his people, that the predictions he men- 
tions originated with the true God, and not 

* Isa. xlii. 9. xliv. 7, 8. xlviii. 5, 6. 



ITS INCREASING- DEVELOPMENT. 37 

with their stupid and brutish idols. But still 
it is quite evident that he appeals to the accom- 
plishment of some as affording abundant reason 
for putting full reliance on other prophetic an- 
nouncements and promises yet to be realized. 

The practical lesson which the whole subject 
of the text inculcates is this : that we cherish 
gratitude to God, for the accomplishment of so 
much of his divine prophetic word as we are 
able distinctly to trace out and perceive in past 
events, or in the present state of mankind ; and 
that, in suitable humility and faith, we sit, like 
docile children, at the Father's feet, endeavor- 
ing to observe and embrace the intimations of 
his will, in such predictions as are still to re 
ceive, in a greater or less degree, their complete 
accomplishment. 

4 



DISCOURSE III. 

PROPHECY : ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT 
AND CERTAINTY CONTINUED. 

We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye 
do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a 
dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star (or sun) arise 
in your hearts. — 2 Peter i. 19. 

In a former discourse on the first clause of 
this verse, I endeavored to explain its true 
meaning as illustrative of the nature of divine 
prophecy, showing that its developments are 
gradual in their advancement to perfect clear- 
ness ; and that thus, in the progress of human 
events, prophecy becomes plainer in its mean- 
ing and necessary application, and surer as a 
test of revealed truth. I concluded, "by sug- 
gesting a useful caution, and inculcating an im- 
portant principle. As the subject brought into 
notice by the apostle's statement could be but 
very imperfectly considered in a single dis- 
course, it is my present purpose to develop it 
somewhat more at large. 

The latter part of the text presents the strong- 
est motive for so doing ; for it implies the pro- 



PROPHECY, ETC. 39 

priet y and advantage of paying the closer atten- 
tion to predictions, as their bearing and truth 
become the more conspicuously evolved. The 
apostle teaches, that it is " well to take heed 
unto the prophetic word, as unto a light that 
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and 
the morning star (or sun) arise in your hearts ;" 
that is, until, by obtaining a clear knowledge of 
its meaning, and a right appreciation of its prac- 
tical character, you become thoroughly enlight- 
ened and sanctified ; ' ' rooted and groun ded in the 
faith," and rejoicing therein with thanksgiving. 

In tracing out the application of St. Peter's 
description of prophecy, let us confine ourselves 
to one leading topic. I refer, of course, to what 
will ever be to Christians, and ought to be to all 
men, the most important ; namely, the predic- 
tions of a deliverer of the human race from the 
natural and threatened effects of man's original 
transgression. An induction of particulars will 
show how strikingly apposite are the apostle's 
statement and comparison. 

The very first promise of a Redeemer was 
addressed to the tempter himself in the very 
moment of his seeming triumph, and is a con- 
tinuation of the threat of curse denounced 
against him, which had preceded it: "I will 
put enmity between thee and the woman, and 
between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise 
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."* It 
* Gen. iii. 15. 



4-0 peophect: 

is not my purpose to examine the different 
views, arising out of the different translations 
of the original, which at various times have 
been proposed. No other version is needed, 
and probably no better can be made, than that 
of our English Bible. In endeavoring to elicit 
the ideas which our unhappy parents would have 
attached to the prophecy, we must regard it as 
entirely isolated from every subsequent develop- 
ment of its significancy, either as contained in 
other parts of the Bible, or as made evident by 
historical accomplishment. We can have noth- 
ing to guide us but the words themselves, and the 
occasion and circumstances in connection with 
which they were uttered. Adam and Eve stood 
before their offended Maker and Judge. The 
justice of his character appears in the very fact, 
while his mercy is not obscurely intimated by 
the previous remark, that he came " in the cool 
of the day." The tempter is also present. The 
culprits are examined, and all three sentenced. 
Whether, in effecting the temptation, the devil 
had assumed the form, or whether he is him- 
self described under the figure, of a serpent, is 
a question which my present purpose does not 
require me to discuss.* One thing is certain, 
that the prominent subject of the curse is the 
Devil, Satan, the old Serpent and Dragon, as 
he is elsewhere called ;f and the language of the 

* Note IV. 

f John viii. 44. Rev. sii, 9. 13-17. 2 Cor. xi. 3. 



ITS INCREASING- DEVELOPMENT. 41 

curse is plainly borrowed from the forms and 
nature of the man and of the reptile. The seed 
or progeny of the woman is her descendants ; 
the progeny of the Serpent, or Devil, compre- 
hend. all who are like him in temper and dispo- 
sition, and whose interests are identified with 
his, that is to say, all incorrigibly wicked men 
and evil angels. The crushing of the head and 
heel refers obviously to the degree of injury to 
be sustained by the respective parties. As the 
head is regarded as the seat of life, the assail- 
ing and crushing of it express complete destruc- 
tion of vital energy, entire defeat and prostra- 
tion of the adversary. The opposite phrase con- 
veys, of course, the idea of injury comparatively 
trifling. It does not appear, therefore, that any- 
thing could be discerned by our fallen parents 
in the first promise more than what may be thus 
expressed : the tempter is condemned to a con- 
dition of utter degradation and servility ; per- 
petual enmity between his race and that of the 
woman is to exist ; although he shall be permit- 
ted to injure the latter in an inferior degree, 
yet in the end it shall completely destroy his 
energy and power.* How this great result was 
to be brought about, by what means it was to 
be done, when its most striking development 
was to take place, and various other most im- 
portant and interesting questions connected 
with the subject, we may answer satisfactorily 

* Note V. 
4* 



4:2 prophecy: 

by the assistance of subsequent predictions and 
facts ; bnt the written word of the original 
promise imparts no other information than that 
already stated. It contains, indeed, the germ 
of the whole gospel ; but when first announced, 
it lay, as it were, buried in the dark earth, 
awaiting its gradual bursting out and progres- 
sive growth and expansion, in " the fulness of 
time" which its divine planter had fixed. I 
say, that if we form our judgment simply on 
the circumstances of the occasion and the mean- 
ing of the words, we can see no more than a 
very general promise couched in figurative ex- 
pressions. If we bring as exegetical aid, any sup- 
posed divinely communicated information made 
to our first parents which is not comprehended 
within the written word, we assume what it 
were indeed presumption positively to deny, but 
at the very least equal presumption to main- 
tain. We venture to make a most important 
affirmation, in a matter of which we are pro- 
foundly and utterly ignorant. Our truest wis- 
dom here is to confess that we know nothing, 
and can assume nothing beyond the record which 
declares, " thus saith the Lord." 

Let us now proceed to the next generally ac- 
knowledged promise of deliverance from the 
original curse. 

Abraham, the father of the faithful, in conse- 
quence of certain divine communications, re- 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 43 

moved to the land of Canaan. The second* 
recorded communication was accompanied by 
a benediction which concludes in the words, 
" in thee shall all families of the earth be bless- 
ed.'^ The promise herein contained, is several 
times on various occasions repeated, and subse- 
quently in language somewhat more definite, 
" in thy seed" being substituted for "in thee." 
This promise is in the New Testament distinctly 
explained of Christ,;); and thus also it seems to 
be alluded to in one of the Psalms and in Zech- 
ariah.§ The terms, in thy seed, would naturally 
remind the patriarch of the original promise, 
that the seed of the woman should bruise the 
head of the serpent ; and he would receive, 
moreover, the gratifying intelligence, that the 
triumphant victory was to be achieved princi- 
pally at least, through one or more of his de- 
scendants. It was signal benediction, involving 
the promise of favor to all mankind by means 
of the patriarch's posterity. But this is all that 
the text in itself authorizes us to affirm. 

Let it be observed, that I do not deny that 
Abraham himself may have been in a condition, 
which would enable him to take a more com- 
prehensive view of these words. Indeed, we 
have good reason to think that this was the 
case. "We know from the patriarchal history 

* Note VI. f Gen. xii. 5. 

X Acts iii. 25, 26. Gal. iii. 8, 9, 14, 16, 29. 
5 Ps. lxxii. 17. Zech. xiv. 17. 



44 peophecy: 

the sincerity and depth of his religions charac- 
ter, the firmness of his faith, and the strength 
and fulness of his obedience. AYe may there- 
fore infer that the knowledge of divine truth 
which, by the grace of God, produced such re- 
sults, could not have been very limited ; and 
this inference is confirmed by the authority of 
the "New Testament. It is not unreasonable to 
believe, that " the friend of God" received other 
divine manifestations than those recounted in 
his sacred biography. It is not improbable 
that the offering of Isaac may have been ac- 
companied by communications relating to the 
scheme of redemption through Christ, far in 
advance of the religious knowledge then exist- 
ing among the great body of the pious. But 
we cannot affirm this, much less make it the 
ground of our interpretation. We must confine 
ourselves to the legitimate sense of the words, 
as expounded by what we know to have been 
the religious character of the times and of the 
parties directly interested, if we would deter- 
mine accurately, according to the measure of 
knowledge attainable by us, just how far such 
" prophetic word" would have illumined the 
then pervading darkness. We have no right 
to concentrate on the obscure prediction the 
ever increasing light of all future declarations, 
even the completeness of gospel illumination. 
The view thereby presented is no doubt the 
living reality of the picture, but the light thus 



ITS INCREASING- DEVELOPMENT. 45 

cast upon it was wanting to the age in which it 
was first produced ; which, consequently, was 
not in a condition to get any more than an im- 
perfect glimpse of the beautiful and magnifi- 
cent region which it delineated. 

Before I proceed, allow me to interrupt the 
course of argument by interposing one remark. 
It would be a fundamental error to suppose 
that we, who are favored with the fulness of 
divine revelation, and who have the comment 
on early prophecies which is afforded by the 
Holy Spirit in the New Testament, should not 
avail ourselves of all those sacred helps in as- 
certaining the full meaning of former predic- 
tions. Doubtless the later communications 
must be employed in illustrating the earlier. 
But my present purpose is to consider prophecy 
as it is in itself; as it was imperfectly, slowly, 
in a fragmentary manner as I may say, and 
after long intermissions, communicated by God 
in successive ages, always imbodying indeed 
one great truth, but developing it with more or 
less obscurity, or, if you will, clearness, accord- 
ing to circumstances. AYith this caution, we 
may venture to proceed in illustrating the 
Apostle's idea. 

Omitting, therefore, certain indirect allusions 
to the main subject, we pass on to the language 
of the dying Jacob: "The sceptre shall not 
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be- 



46 prophecy: 

tween his feet, until Shiloh come; and nnto 
him shall the gathering of the people be."* 

This text has been subjected to a multitude 
of interpretations, through the perversity of pre- 
judice, and the accommodation of criticism to 
theory and imagination. Omitting them all as 
unworthy of notice in the present connection, 
I confine myself to two, both of which may 
very plausibly be defended. Many of the 
wisest, most learned, and orthodox interpreters 
regard the word Shiloh as equivalent to peace- 
maker. Thus the term will be synonymous 
with the phrase, "prince of peace," applied to 
the Messiah, and in harmony with the language 
of Micah, " this one shall be our peace," and 
the correspondent language of St. Paul, "he is 
our peace. "f According to the other view, 
which is perhaps better supported, the term is 
a compound one, and the sentence elliptical, 
for, until he come whose (it is) — namely, the au- 
thority implied in the word sceptre, and recog- 
nized by the expectation of those to whom the 
prophecy was directed. This appears to be the 
view in which Ezekiel regarded the passage, 
if, as seems exceedingly probable, he has par- 
aphrased it in the words, " I will overturn, 
overturn, overturn it ; and it shall be no more 
until he come whose right it is."% Whichever 
of these two views may be preferred, the gene- 

* Gen. xlix. 10. f Isa. ix. 5, 6. Mic. v. 4, 5. Eph. ii. 14. 
X xxi. 32, (27.) 



ITS INCREASING- DEVELOPMENT. 47 

ral idea of the prophecy, as foretelling the 
coming of some extraordinary personage de- 
scended from Judah, will be the same. The 
only difference is, that in the one case the 
peaceful character of his government is made 
the most prominent consideration, and in the 
other the right and justice of his authority.* 

This celebrated prophecy of Jacob is a much 
fuller development of the subject than any pre- 
ceding one contained within the inspired record. 
Several particulars are contained in it which 
do not at all appear in the others. In the 
manifestations to Abraham, the blessing is prom- 
ised through his posterity, and in the line of 
Isaac ; here we are taught that it shall come 
through Judah, thus limiting the descent to one 
of the twelve brethren. Former revelations 
contained nothing beyond a general announce- 
ment of blessing to be derived through some 
patriarchal family ; this develops the important 
truth, that a certain individual personage is to 
be the agent in dispensing it. It goes further ; 
it represents this person as a great ruler, in- 
vested with rightful authority. And further 
still; it announces him as a universal com- 
mander, to whose standard even the nations 
shall gather, or to whom they will yield obe- 
dience. These are very important points of 
superiority. The prophetic word now begins 
to break forth with marked distinctness. The 
* Note Vn. 



48 prophecy: 

surrounding darkness begins to be dissipated, 
and the yet unseen orb of prophecy to emit 
considerable light. Let us continue to gaze 
until it rises in the murky atmosphere, and 
presents to our vision its full disk clearly de- 
fined. 

Thus far, human conquest and triumph over 
the great adversary, by means of some distin- 
guished individual to arise in the family of 
Judah, and to become the benefactor of man- 
kind, the establisher of universal peace, and 
the ruler of all, comprise the sum and sub- 
stance of the prophecies relating to the Messiah 
which are comprehended in the Hebrew his- 
tory. I purposely omit any notice of Mosaic 
institutions, whether relating to things, charac- 
ters, or places, inasmuch as they have no direct 
bearing on the topic under consideration, which 
is to trace the gradual development of this di- 
vine truth, not to show how much of it was 
wrapped up in type and symbol. I omit also 
the celebrated prophecy of Balaam, because it 
is quite possible to restrict its exposition to 
David without any apparent unfairness, al- 
though analogy is opposed to such a limitation. 
The repeated law* of the divinely inspired 
legislator, supplies us with another prediction 
of the personality of the great deliverer, and 
represents him also in a new character. Be- 

* Deut. xviii. 15 et seq. This is the meaning of the title of 
the last book of the Pentateuch, both in Greek and Hebrew. 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 49 

fore, he had appeared as universal autocrat, 
swaying uncontrolled authority, and receiving 
the homage of the nations. Now, he comes 
before us as the great instructor, God's own 
commissioned teacher of his people : " The 
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet 
from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like 
unto me." 

This promise, which the man of God develops 
at length, is in the New Testament explained 
of the Messiah. He is the prophet, the di- 
vinely commissioned instructor, taught, guided, 
and sustained by Jehovah, to teach the erring 
and sinful people the way of life. This pro- • 
phet is to be raised up from among his brethren, 
not merely his brethren of mankind, but his 
Hebrew brethren. He is to be like Moses, 
favored with special and direct communications 
from heaven. He is to promulgate the com- 
mands of God. The severest threatenings are 
denounced against all who shall presumptuously 
refuse to hear his instructions. The promise 
of such a divine agent and teacher is made in- 
deed to the Hebrew people ; but, like many 
others in the sacred volume, is also intended to 
embrace within the comprehensive circle of 
its blessings, all the people of the earth. The 
royal office of the Messiah had been already 
proclaimed in the dying rapture of Jacob, and 
perhaps the prediction of Balaam did but re- 
echo the well-known prophetic voice. Here, 
5 



50 prophecy: 

the great teacher is brought forward ; the re- 
vealer of the profound secret, inscrutable to 
man, however deeply interested and desirous 
to penetrate the mystery, the secret of the re- 
conciliation and access of the sinner to the pure 
and holy God. Here is contained the gracious 
and soul-satisfying promise of the future com- 
ing of him who should " bring life and immor- 
tality to light," who is himself the true "light" 
and the very "truth." 

It were unworthy of the sincerity which 
should always mark the duties of this sacred 
place, were I to pass unnoticed the objection 
which has been urged against explaining this 
passage in Deuteronomy as a promise of the 
Messiah. It is indeed so applied in the JSTew 
Testament. But, say some objectors, this is 
simply by accommodation ; or, say others, 
through inadvertence, or want of right knowl- 
edge of its meaning, or an inclination to apply 
predictions and representations of the Old Tes- 
tament writers to the Messiah. Now, my dear 
young friends, let me say to you, and let me 
request you to bear it in mind, that nothing is 
easier than to ascribe to a comprehensive ac- 
commodation what is not understood ; or to 
question the right knowledge of those whose 
views we are incompetent to appreciate, and 
even to assume their incapacity and ignorance. 
The boy may undervalue and despise the in- 
structions of the man, as is very common, and 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 51 

indeed natural, from the almost invariable 
union of ignorance and conceit. It cannot be 
questioned, however, that the connection in 
which the promise stands requires a more ex- 
tended application of it than that which limits 
the meaning to Messiah, as the predicted reli- 
gious teacher of mankind. The Hebrew law- 
giver has just been warning his people against 
the contagious evil of the surrounding idolatry, 
of consulting for any purposes those who pre- 
tended to have intercourse with spirits, and of 
any attempts by such means to acquire knowl- 
edge, and to pry into futurity. Then he intro- 
duces the language under review : " These na- 
tions hearkened unto observers of times and 
unto diviners ; but as for thee, the Lord thy 
God hath not suffered thee so to do. The Lord 
thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet like 
unto me ; unto him shall ye hearken." And, 
after repeating the declaration, and threatening 
those who would disregard the divine teaching 
of this prophet, he goes on to say, in the per- 
son of God : " But the prophet which shall pre- 
sume to speak a word in my name, which I 
have not commanded him to speak, shall die." 
And, to make the connection still clearer, a test 
is immediately subjoined, whereby a true pro- 
phet may be distinguished from an impostor : 
" When a prophet speaketh in the name of the 
Lord, if the thing follow not nor come to pass, 
that is the thing which the Lord hath not spo- 



52 prophecy: 

ken ; the prophet hath spoken it presumptu- 
ously." It is evident, then, that Moses intends 
to satisfy the Israelites of the incongruity and 
wickedness of appealing to false methods of 
acquiring what is unknown, and to direct them 
to the only reliable source, by assuring them 
that, as occasion might require, the true God 
would raise up the true prophet ; in other 
words, that they should never want a succession 
of prophets, inspired and directed in a greater 
or less degree like himself, to teach them " the 
true and the right way." 

But does this view of the passage preclude 
its application to the Messiah ? Certainly not. 
It only shows, that of the whole line of pro- 
phets, he was always the life and the soul; and 
that the prediction of the mass comprehended 
also the prediction of the individual who com- 
municated animation and vitality to every part. 
Any true prophet whom God might at any 
time raise up among the Hebrews, is doubtless 
intended ; but the prophet of prophets, the pro- 
phet foreseen, predetermined, without whom 
there could never have been any true prophet 
at all, and who spake in the inspiration of each, 
is the prominent and leading burden of this 
prediction of Moses. 

Thus does the prophetic word become surer 
and clearer, as it gradually advances in the 
Pentateuch towards the full light of day. 
From a general, indefinite promise of restora- 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 53 

tion and benediction, it opens before ns the 
royal and prophetic character of that distin- 
guished personage, whose coming should confer 
peculiar honor on the tribe of Judah. And as 
we proceed in examining the prophetic page, 
the truth gains in perspicuity and distinctness. 
A royal seed is promised to David,* not merely 
his immediate descendant on the throne, or 
any other individual of his race, but a succes- 
sion of kings, symbolizing the great Monarch, 
the chief Son of David, in whose universal su- 
premacy the idea of the divinely established 
regal government of the Hebrews, is fully real- 
ized. Of this royal seed it is said : " He shall 
build a house for my name," a prediction which 
announces not merely the erection of the mate- 
rial national place of worship at Jerusalem, but 
also the "raising up" to God's glory of that 
grand moral, and religious, and intellectual 
temple, unconflned by any terrestrial locality, 
"the house of prayer for all nations," "the 
Lord's house," whose base is to be elevated 
"in the top of the mountains, and exalted 
above the hills, and unto" which " all people 
shall flow;" the Christian "church, of the living 
God," which, commenced in this world, "grow- 
eth unto a holy temple," and shall be completed 
in full perfection by its almighty and infinite 
Builder in the world to come." 

This ever-brightening series of predictions 

* 2 Sam. vii. 
5* 



54: prophecy: 

relative to our spiritual deliverer, displays its 
character as delineated by the inspired pencil 
of St. Peter, most incontestably and abundantly 
in the Psalms and prophetic writings properly 
so called. The historical books of the Old Tes- 
tament contain, as we have seen, the develop- 
ment of two of the leading offices of Messiah. 
The whole Hebrew system of divine services in 
the tabernacle and temple adumbrate, the third. 
But the 110th Psalm proclaims it most openly 
in the words : u The Lord sware, and will not 
repent, thou art spriest forever after the order 
(or rank, or likeness) of Melchisedek." Here 
we have the announcement of a sacrificial per- 
sonage, far superior to the whole Levitical suc- 
cession, and therefore represented as analogous 
to him who ranked above even the great patri- 
arch Abraham himself, the " mighty prince 
among" the Hittites, the noble head and foun- 
der of the Hebrew nation, and, to crown all his 
honors in one most magnificent and yet most 
simple description of greatness, invested in the 
glory of which he of all mortals stands pre- 
eminent in lone conspicuity, " the friejsd of 
God !"* A priest implies a sacrifice, and 
hence we read of the obedience and sufferings 
of this same personage in a different capacity, 
of his " bearing griefs and carrying sorrows" 
for men, of his being " wounded for our trans- 
gressions and bruised for our iniquities ;" that 
* Isa. xli. 8. James ii. 23. 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 55 

" the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 
and" that "with his stripes we are healed;" 
that " the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us 
all, put him to grief," and made " his soul an 
offering for sin ;" that he "bare the sin of many, 
and made intercession for the transgressors."* 

Continuing to unroll the prophetic record, we 
are furnished with yet more particular predic- 
tions respecting this long promised Saviour. 
Unlike the great mass of prophecies, many of 
these are remarkable for their specific character 
and the definiteness of their statements. One 
prophet announces that God " will send his mes- 
senger to prepare the way, and that the Lord 
shall come to his temple." Another, the " man 
greatly beloved," is told by an angel despatched 
from heaven towards the end of the Babylonian 
Captivity, that within a period designated as 
"70 weeks" Messiah shall set up his eternal 
kingdom, put an end to Jewish " sacrifice and 
oblation," "bring in everlasting righteousness," 
and prepare " the most holy" place for the truest 
religious services, although in accomplishing 
these great objects he shall himself "be cut 
off." On the obscurity and indefiniteness of 
the period thus designated by Daniel, a ray of 
light is thrown by a subsequent prophet. Hag- 
gai predicts that the glory of the house of prayer 
and praise then in the progress of building 
shall exceed that of Solomon's, and the connec- 
* Isa. liii. 



56 prophecy: 

tion shows, what the fact proves, that this glory 
is identical with the presence of the Messiah, 
who consequently was to come during the con- 
tinuance of the second temple. The place of 
his birth is mentioned, and, as if it were in- 
tended to refute all suspicion of merely being a 
happy fortuitous coincidence, this honor is con- 
ferred on an obscure and insignificant village. 
That his appearance in human nature should be 
miraculous as the son of a virgin mother, and 
that he should be at the same time really di- 
vine, " the mighty God" of the universe, are 
plain statements of the inspired Isaiah. The 
lowliness of his character and condition as a 
man is several times depicted ; once, with the 
striking circumstance so remarkably verified by 
his last entrance into Jerusalem, "lowly and 
riding on an ass," and yet, " O daughter of 
Zion, coming unto thee" as " thy king !" The 
simple and unostentatious manner in which he 
should proclaim his Father's message, and im- 
part his heavenly doctrines, comforting the 
mourners, and cherishing the slightest indica- 
tions of piety, is not forgotten in the prophetic 
delineations. The Messiah is represented as a 
public proclaimer of divine truth, one on whose 
" lips grace has been poured forth," who shall 
" preach righteousness, declare God's faithful- 
ness and salvation, his loving-kindness and truth 
in the great congregation." He is announced 
as the vindicator of God's law, the lover of 



ITS INCREASING DEVELOPMENT. 57 

righteousness, and, in consequence of this char- 
acteristic trait of his nature, as raised to an 
honorable distinction above all authorities and 
powers.* The spiritual character of the reli- 
gion which he should introduce, in contradis- 
tinction to the predominant element of that 
which should give place to it, is often stated, 
and never with greater fulness and particular- 
ity than by the prophet Jeremiah, whose lan- 
guage is too remarkable to be omitted. " Be- 
hold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
make a new covenant with the house of Israel 
and with the house of Judah : not according to 
the covenant which I made with their fathers ; 
but I will put my law in their inward parts, and 
write it in their hearts. And they shall all 
know me, from the least unto the greatest ; for I 
will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember 
their sin no more."f !No comment can possibly 
be truer on this passage than that of the cele- 
brated Jewish Rabbi, Abarbanel : "This decla- 
ration shows, that, in the time of the future re- 
demption, God will give to his people a new 
law, other and different from that which we 
have." This is a most memorable and candid 
avowal of the truth. How melancholy, that it 
should be immediately followed by a remark 
illustrative of most amazing prejudice and apa- 
thy. " But this is repugnant to the funda- 

* Ps. Sd. 9, 10. xlv. 2, 6, 7. f Jer. xxxi. 31 et seq. 



58 PROPHECY, ETC. 

mental principle which we believe, that the law 
is perpetual and immutable !" * 

In conclusion, I have only time to make one 
single remark. 

Briefly and imperfectly the rise and gradual 
development of scriptural prophecy relating to 
the Messiah has been presented to your consid- 
eration. The one is coeval with the fall. The 
other runs parallel with the whole period of 
revelation antecedent to the Christian, appear- 
ing in various forms and in various degrees of 
clearness, only becoming brighter and fuller, 
and more perfect as it advances. All, however, 
is perspicuous in announcing " good things to 
come ;" and very much in declaring their spir- 
itual nature, and consequently their accurate 
correspondence with the gospel. Here, then, 
is a problem for infidelity to ponder. To solve 
it on her principles is impossible. How can 
such a series of predictions be explained, ex- 
cept on the principle of divine influence and 
direction, both in its origination and in its con- 
tinuance ? 

To this "more sure word of prophecy," then, 
"let us take heed, as unto a light that shineth 
in a dark place, until the day dawn and the 
day-star (or sun) arise in our hearts." 

* Note VIII. 



DISCOURSE IY. 

PEOPHECY COMMUNICATED IN VARIOUS "WAYS. 

God at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time 
past unto the fathers by the prophets. — Heb. i. 1. 

It has frequently been remarked that there 
exists, in many respects, a beautiful analogy 
between the works of God in nature aud his 
revealed word in the sacred Scriptures. This 
truth confirms the evidence, arising from vari- 
ous sources, of the divine origin of the latter, 
inasmuch as it tends to show that such harmo- 
nious connection is to be traced to the same 
first cause. While each class of created things 
possesses the same general characteristics, the 
individuals composing it are so diversified that 
no two can be found exactly and in every mi- 
nute particular alike. A similar uniformity and 
diversity may be seen in the methods by which 
it hath pleased the one infinite and eternal Wis- 
dom to make known his revealed will. In illus- 
tration of the principle, it is sufficient for my 
present purpose to refer to the language of the 
text. " It is by the prophets" that divine com- 



60 prophecy: 

munications have been made to men ; and yet, 
in such diversity of manner as comports with 
individual peculiarity and the circumstances 
of time and place : "At sundry times and in 
divers manners" hath God spoken. 

The word "prophet," in the text, compre- 
hends, no doubt, all the divinely inspired teach- 
ers of sacred truth who, in former dispensations, 
were commissioned to communicate the will of 
God to his people. It accords best, however, 
with my present purpose, to restrict its applica- 
tion to that class of men who were favored with 
some supernatural knowledge of future events. 
It is the design of this discourse to attempt to 
state some of the "divers manners" which 
were employed to impart this knowledge both 
to the prophet himself, and also to those whom 
he was authorized and directed to instruct. 

The prophets are said to have spoken to the 
people, and we often read that God spake to the 
prophets. Yet, in neither case is it necessary 
to limit the meaning of the word to oral com- 
munication imbodied in human language. 
Thought may be conveyed by symbolic exhibi- 
tion or action, with as much certainty and clear- 
ness as by oral utterance ; and it is not to be 
doubted that "the father of our spirits" can 
communicate to his intelligent creatures, in 
very many ways beside this, with equal and 
probably much greater definiteness and perspi- 
cuity. Scripture frequently employs the phrases, 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 61 

"God spake," and " God said," when it intends 
merely to denote the expression or the action of 
his will, in proof of which it is sufficient to refer 
to the account of the creation in the first chapter 
of Genesis. And persons are said to employ 
certain language, when nothing more is intend- 
ed than to put into definite forms of expression 
their inward emotions and dispositions. Thus 
Isaiah* represents the scornful rulers in Jerusa- 
lem as boasting of having " made a covenant 
with death" and being "at agreement with 
hell," of having "made lies their refuge and 
hid themselves under falsehood ;" though it 
would be quite preposterous to suppose that 
they had actually, in such terms, openly avowed 
their own wickedness. It is freely conceded, 
therefore, that communication in words audibly 
heard by the natural human organ is not the 
necessary and invariable sense of the forms al- 
luded to. 

And yet in many such cases, no good reason 
can be alleged why this sense should not be 
given to the form, and in many also it seems 
impossible to understand it otherwise. It would 
be difficult, if not impracticable, adequately to 
explain, on any other theory, the sentence pro- 
nounced against our first parents, together with 
the promise connected therewith. The same 
remark would apply to several communications 
made to Abraham ; to the interview of Moses 
* xxviii. 14, 15. 



62 prophecy: 

with the God of his ancestors at the burning 
bush ; most especially to his intercourse with 
the same divine Being on Mount Sinai, when 
the ten commandments were announced, and he 
spake with the Almighty "face to face, as a 
man speaketh with his friend." Other instances 
of the same method of divine revelation occur 
in the sacred narratives of the Old Testament. 
And the New also furnishes striking illustra- 
tions. The " voice from heaven" " this is my 
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," which 
was heard by the Baptist, is explained most sat- 
isfactorily and most in harmony with other such 
facts solely on this supposition. The similar 
voice at the transfiguration, and that on a sub- 
sequent occasion, when the petition, "Father, 
glorify thy name," was immediately answered 
in the words, " I have both glorified it and will 
glorify it again," ascribed by some of the by- 
standers to an angel,* are inexplicable on any 
other ground. The same may be said of the 
miraculous announcement from heaven to Saul 
of Tarsus, " Why persecutes t thou me?" which 
his attendants heard, but probably did not un- 
derstand,! as it was made " in the Hebrew 
tongue." And, after all the learned, not exclud- 
ing the extravagant, disquisitions of Jewish and 
Christian writers, on the Urim and Thummim 
of the Hebrew priestly breastplate, and the 
mode in which divine answers were given 
* John xii. 28-30. f Note IX. 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 63 

thereby ; the simplest theory is probably the 
best, namely, that when the High Priest put on 
the vestment in which were deposited the twelve 
precious stones, and applied for divine direc- 
tion by means of the Urim and Thummim, the 
responses were orally communicated.* 

It may be concluded, then, that God some- 
times spake unto the prophets in an audible 
voice, and in this colloquial manner expressed 
his will to men. Occasionally, too, he appeared 
in human form, and, as a man, had intercourse 
with those whom he thus deigned to favor with 
his presence and blessing. 

But it is not to be assumed that the visible 
and the audible combined, or even the audible 
alone, was the invariable, or indeed the most 
usual manner. That it was not invariable is 
certain from the express declaration of Scrip- 
ture ; and, from analogy and the nature of the 
thing, we infer that it is not probable that it was 
the most usual. We read that the divine will was 
conveyed in dreams. Ignorant fancies and weak- 
nesses, which have so often led superstitious 
persons to ascribe to some divine promptings 
certain dreams, which, after all, were nothing 
but the result of natural influences, have served 
to cast an unjust suspicion on this, as one me- 
dium of supernatural divine communication. 
But the suspicion is unfounded. Man's want 
of knowledge, and his -folly, may expose to 
* Note X. 



64: prophecy: 

contempt what God's wisdom can sanctify and 
honor. "We know so little of the soul, the 
thinking and feeling principle of our being, 
except in our daily wakeful and corporeal state, 
that we are wholly unable to say whether a 
condition of sleep may not, in certain conceiv- 
able circumstances, be as well adapted to the 
reception of a divine communication, as the 
opposite, or indeed even better. However this 
may be, it is certain that the ancients attached 
much importance to dreams, — often, however, I 
grant, through childish fear and superstition, — ■ 
and that the Scripture is explicit in assuring us 
that, through this medium, divine truth was fre- 
quently imparted to God's holy prophets, and 
occasionally to certain individuals who cannot 
be classed among so sacred and venerated a 
body.* 

Intimately connected with this method of 
conveying divine instruction or direction, yet 
of a less natural character, was that which the 
sacred Scriptures express under the name of 
vision. A dream, however inexplicable by us 
may be its diversified phenomena, is neverthe- 
less the natural result of a natural state of hu- 
manity in its present earthly condition. Al- 
though it may in several respects correspond 
with a vision, yet this always implies some- 
thing more, something beyond the natural phe- 
nomena of present ordinary human existence. 
* Note XI. 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 65 

It is a peculiar state of the moral, sentient, and 
intellectual element of man, produced by di- 
vine influence; and therefore it must be well 
fitted for admitting divine communications. 
Hence prophetic announcements are called vi- 
sions, sights, appearances, things seen ; and 
the prophets themselves are called seers.* It 
would seem that the man of God who is to be 
the subject of such a communication, is brought 
into a peculiar condition both of body and 
mind. It may be that, in general, a very ex- 
alted degree of religious character is a neces- 
sary preliminary to such a condition, and also 
a certain calm, reflective, and spiritualized 
state of the whole man. I say, in general, for 
doubtless the Scriptures supply us with occa- 
sional instances of a different kind. In such a 
state of body and mind divine communications 
are made to the prophet. Sometimes they are 
conveyed to him in direct language, addressed 
to him in his preternatural condition, and are 
afterwards written down by him, for the use of 
those who were to be benefited by the revela- 
tion. Sometimes they are made by symbolical 
representations, known at the time to be ex- 
pressive of the thing intended to be pointed 
out ; as in the case of Daniel's ram, the well- 
known symbol of the Persian power, and of his 
he-goat, equally notorious as the representation 
of Greek or Macedonian impetuosity. Fre- 

* Note XII. 
6* 



bb prophecy: 

quently the prophetic announcements are de- 
lineated in pictorial representations, when the 
prophet sees the future events delineated, and 
the graphical view is so impressed upon his 
inspired internal faculty, as to enable him to 
describe in language for the use of all subse- 
quent ages the facts thus predicted. 

I shall not attempt to show how this condition 
of the prophet was produced. Being quite dif- 
ferent from that of the mind in its ordinary per- 
ceptive state, and also of a divine and miracu- 
lous character, the preliminary steps which led 
to it most probably varied according to circum- 
stances. They were sometimes connected with 
preparatory training; at others the prophetic 
influence was poured forth without such disci- 
pline. It is reasonable to think that "there 
were diversities of operations," although " the 
same God" conducted and controlled all. Some- 
times the prophet was at first deeply agitated 
and distressed, and afterwards calmed and 
soothed and strengthened, either by natural* 
or supernaturalf means ; so that his faculties 
were brought into a condition fit to receive the 
divine influence. It is both unreasonable and 
unscriptural to suppose that God's holy prophets 
were in a state of frenzied excitement, such as 
is said to have maddened the raving Sibyl. It 
is well remarked by an old and able writer on 

* See 2 Kings iii. 15. 

f Isa. vi. 6-8. Dan. x. 8, 10, 11, 15-19. 



METHODS OP COMMUNICATION. 67 

this subject, that " the prophetic spirit doth 
never alienate the mind, seeing it seats itself 
as well in the rational powers as in the sensi- 
tive, but always maintains a consistency and 
clearness of reason, and solidity of judgment 
where it comes ; it doth not ravish the mind, 
but inform and enlighten it." And again : 
" The prince of darkness comes not within 
the sphere of light and reason to order affairs 
there, but that is left to the sole economy and 
sovereignty of the Father of lights. There is a 
clear and bright heaven in man's soul, in which 
Lucifer himself cannot subsist, but is tumbled 
down from thence as often as he essays to 
climb up into it."* 

Although the prophet is placed in a suitable 
condition to receive divine communications, yet 
he sees and hears and feels and acts as he 
would have done in his natural condition ; and 
therefore the Scripture often represents his 
views or actions, while in this state, by the 
very same language which it would have em- 
ployed to describe them, had they taken place 
in historical reality during his ordinary natural 
condition. The account of St. Peter's deliver- 
ance from prison, as related in the twelfth 
chapter of the Acts, is a striking illustration of 
this. An angel appears to him, and rouses 
him from sleep. His chains fall off. At the 
command of his heavenly visitor, he clothes 
* Smith's Discourses, in Jewish Rabbis, p. 230, note. 



68 prophecy: 

himself, and prepares for flight. He follows 
his guide without hesitation, passes the first 
and second wards, goes out of the prison through 
the iron gate into the city, and proceeds along 
one street. Then the angel departs, and the 
apostle perceives the true state of the case. 
Hitherto, and while all these facts were taking 
place, he did not know that they were realities, 
" but thought he saw a vision." In his own 
estimation, then, and according to his own per- 
ception, there was no apparent difference be- 
tween actual transactions in his natural condi- 
tion, and the representations and impressions 
which were made in vision. And doubtless it 
was thus also with the Old Testament prophet.* 
Whilst under the influence of the divine affla- 
tus, it may seem to him that he has gone to 
some place, where he has remained a consider- 
able time, and transacted certain business ; that 
he has removed from one place to another ; 
that he has married, and become the father of 
a family called by particular names. All these 
things appear to him as facts, and are also de- 
scribed as such. But in some cases we know 
with positive certainty that they could not have 
been actual realities in life, and therefore we 
may infer the same thing with regard to others, 
the evidence of which is less definite. 

Let me illustrate this point by quotations 
from the prophet Ezekiel : " The hand of the 

* Note XIII. 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 69 

Lord God fell upon me ; and the Spirit lifted 
me up between the earth and the heaven, and 
brought me in the visions of God, to Jerusalem. 
And he brought me to the door of the court ; 
and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. 
Then said he unto me, Dig now in the wall ; 
and when I had digged in the wall, behold a 
door. And he said unto me, Go in and behold 
the wicked abominations that they do there."* 
The prophet then proceeds to describe the va- 
rious idolatries practised by the Israelites. 
Thus also in other subsequent portions of his 
prophecies. And yet Ezekiel was a captive in 
Babylonia, and it is certain that all this took 
place, not at Jerusalem, but near the river 
Chebar, and, as we are expressly told, in pro- 
phetic vision. The same method of representa- 
tion most probably occurs also in Jeremiah, 
where he is said, in obedience to the divine 
direction, to go to the Euphrates, and to hide 
the girdle that he had previously put upon his 
loins within a hole of the rock, and after many 
days to go again, and to take the girdle from 
the place where he had hid it, and to find it 
marred and useless. f All this is symbolic, in- 
tended, as we read immediately afterwards, to 
show the corrupt state of the people, whom he 
had so closely connected with himself, and 
their consequent punishment and ruin. The 
same view may be taken of the marriage of 

* Ezek. viii. 1, 3, 7-9. f lb. xii. 1-7. 



70 prophecy: 

Hosea, and the children said to have been born 
to him; which, if understood literally, is en- 
cumbered by very serious difficulties, but if 
regarded as a parabolical representation, or as 
having taken place, not in real life, but merely 
in prophetic vision, is an apt illustration of the 
rejection of the Israelites for shameful infidelity 
to God, and of their subsequent repentance and 
reconciliation. The Old Testament contains 
many representations of this sort, important 
facts or truths being thus communicated. In 
this way, most probably, Moses was shown in 
the mount the pattern of the tabernacle, the 
graphical delineation of which was so im- 
pressed on his mind as to enable him to direct 
how the material tabernacle of the Hebrews 
should be made conformably. This is the most 
natural sense of the divine direction given to 
Moses, and repeated twice in the JSew Testa- 
ment.* Thus, perhaps, did David discern the 
destroying angel standing over the threshing- 
floor of Araunah. Thus, too, did the disciple 
whom Jesus loved see the Apocalyptic wonders, 
in the Spirit, in a high state of the prophetic 
vision, not with bodily eye, but with mental 
and spiritual organ, purified, and cleared, and 
prepared for the extraordinary representations 
that ravished and entranced him. And thus 
also did the proto-martyr Stephen, while dying, 
exult in the vision that burst upon his illumi- 

* Exod. xxv. 40. Acts vii. 44. Heb. viii. 5. 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 71 

nated mind, of "the heavens opened, and" of 
" Jesus standing on the right hand of God." 

Divine communications were very frequently 
made by the instrumentality of angels. It is 
unnecessary to specify instances. They occur 
so frequently that the most distinguished among 
the Jewish interpreters have laid it down as a 
principle, that an angel is always to be re- 
garded as the medium of communication even 
in cases where such an agency is not men- 
tioned.*- But this is an unwarrantable infer- 
ence, although it may apply in many cases 
where the sacred oracles are silent respecting 
the mode of conveyance. In all periods of 
prophetic illumination, from the patriarchal 
down to the apostolic, we read of the instru- 
mentality of angels. Either they appeared in 
the human form and nature, and thus held 
converse with men in the same manner as men 
communicate with each other, or else they con- 
veyed the purposes of God to the prophet in a 
dream or in his state of vision. The rational- 
istic notion, that the existence of such celestial 
beings, and of their occasional intercourse with 
men, is of Persian origin, and was engrafted 
on the old stock of Hebrew theology about the 
time of the Babylonian captivity, is a fiction, 
wholly unsupported by historic evidence, and 
equally inconsistent with a right view of the 
antiquity and authority of the earlier books of 

* See Maimonides in Jewish Rabbies, pp. 231, 232, 235. 



72 peophecy: 

the Old Testament. In the writings of Daniel 
and St. Luke, an angel, who was commissioned 
with divine information, is mentioned by name, 
and, in the former book, another also, who is 
represented as the "prince" of the Jewish peo- 
ple. These names may have been applied to 
the respective angels in accordance with what 
we know to have been in the time of the Evan- 
gelist the practice of the Jews, who designated 
certain angels highest in the divine favor by 
certain names appropriate to their supposed 
standing.* Such accommodation, being merely 
in the circumstance of a name, could have no 
influence in diminishing the authority and truth 
of the fact related, although this inference has 
most unjustly been drawn therefrom. But, on 
the other hand, it is quite as probable that the 
prophet himself, or some other previously in- 
spired man of God, may have originated names 
indicative of the condition, character and office 
of those angelic beings. At any rate, the 
Scripture is clear and express in assigning the 
communication to the celestial messenger so 
designated. 

Divine directions were often given to the 
prophets, and occasionally to others, by means 
of significant symbols, and in the same manner 
were conveyed also to the people. And this 
method of communication sometimes took place 
in dreams and visions, and sometimes in real 
* Note XIV. 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 73 

actions performed by the prophets under di- 
vine direction, openly and in the presence of 
the people. 

The symbolical dreams of Joseph, Pharaoh, 
Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, are predictions of 
future events, and in some cases are clear in- 
dications in themselves of what might be ex- 
pected, while in others they require the heaven- 
directed interpreter or the historical develop- 
ment to explain the meaning. The former 
remark applies to Joseph's dreams of the 
sheaves and the heavenly bodies, and the latter 
to those of the other persons mentioned. The 
earlier part of the book of Zechariah abounds 
with accounts of divine communications made 
to the prophet in a state of vision by symbols, 
which were made known by him to the people in 
writing, or public announcement, or probably in 
both these ways. And here, as in other cases, 
some are explained to the prophet by an angel. 
Jeremiah's vision of the good and bad figs sym- 
bolized two classes of Jews ; the good figs repre- 
sented those who had already been captured, 
among whom were Daniel and his companions, 
and the bad, those who still remained in the 
land or were dwelling in Egypt in impenitence 
and wickedness. Thus the Lord himself ex- 
plains the symbol to the prophet.* In prophet- 
ic vision, too, Daniel sees the ram and the he- 
goat symbols of the Medo-Persian and Grecian 

* Jer. xxiv. 

7 



74 prophecy: 

kingdoms, as explained to him by the divine 
attendant.* And it may be remarked that, in 
the choice of the symbols by which the future 
is indicated, the divine revealer sometimes 
adapts himself to the circumstances, associa- 
tions and habits of the receiver. Thus the 
dreams of Joseph accord with his pastoral con- 
nections, and with that observation of the 
heavens naturally resulting therefrom in a pi- 
ous and contemplative mind. Those of Pharaoh 
harmonize with his Egyptian associations, and 
Nebuchadnezzar's magnificent tree, and his 
great and splendid image, are symbols of power 
and supremacy which would naturally be cher- 
ished by the proud Babylonian monarch. The 
remark might probably be applied to many 
other cases, had we sufficient knowledge of 
circumstances to justify the application. But 
we may not be in a condition always to see the 
bearing of the symbol as clearly as the prophet 
or his contemporaries were able to do. In re- 
gard to this much may depend on education, 
and what is in a considerable degree inciden- 
tal. But, from the accordance of the form of 
communication with the condition and char- 
acter of the party to whom it is made, we can- 
not infer that the whole is nothing but a natural 
occurrence. This merely shows it to be in 
harmony with that divine condescension which 
induces the infinitely wise one to accommodate 
* Dan. viii. 3-8,20, 21. 



METHODS OF COMMITNIC ATION. 75 

his manner of communication with his creatures 
to their weakness and condition, thus making 
what is really of supernatural origin to appear 
in some respects like ordinary phenomena of 
nature. 

But the symbolic method was often employed 
by means of real actions openly performed. 

That ideas may be conveyed in this way dis- 
tinctly and with perfect clearness, we know 
with certainty. Observation and experience 
have proved this beyond all doubt. In adopt- 
ing this method, therefore, divine wisdom did 
but choose one from among various means, any 
of which is sufficiently well adapted to assure 
men of the meaning of his will. And the 
method chosen is sometimes the most impressive 
and striking that can possibly be imagined. 
"When it is said of the prophet Isaiah, that, in 
obedience to the divine command to "loose 
the sackcloth from off" his "loins, and to put 
off" the " shoe from" his " foot," that " he did 
so, walking naked," i. e. stripped of a part of his 
clothing,* "and barefoot, three years, a sign 
and a wonder," in other words, a remarkable 
indication of God's judgment, "upon Egypt 
and upon Ethiopia ;"f it is hardly possible to 
conceive of a more direct prediction of over- 
throw and captivity, and of the contumely and 
" shame" to which Egypt, the world-renowned, 
the world-scorning, and in its own estimation, 
* Note XV. f Isa. xx. 2, 3. 



76 prophecy: 

all but celestial Egypt, should be exposed. And 
when Ezekiel is "set for a sign unto the house 
of Israel," and at the command of God, "re- 
moves his furniture in the sight of" the people, 
" bearing it upon his shoulders and covering 
his face ;" it would seem that the act itself 
spoke out its own meaning, and certified the 
miserable inhabitants that " they should re- 
move and go into captivity," that " the prince" 
should be degraded to a servile condition, car- 
rying the most necessary articles, and hiding 
his face through shame for the ignominy to 
which he should be subjected.* 

Let us look, also, at the symbolical actions 
of Jeremiah. On one occasion, God orders 
him to " get a potter's earthen bottle," and 
after a public proclamation, addressed to king 
and people, of terrible jugments impending, 
and of their iniquities which occasioned them, 
to break the bottle in pieces in their presence, 
as a symbol of their utter destruction. Such 
preaching, one might think, could hardly need 
the oral comment accompanying it, which be- 
gins in these words : "Thus saith the Lord of 
hosts, even so will I break this people and this 
city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel that it 
cannot be made whole again." f At another 
time, he is directed to send yokes to certain 
kings in the neighborhood of Judea, indicating 
that the creator and owner of all had resolved 

* Ezek. xii. 1, etseq. f H>« xix. 11. 



METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. 77 

to subjugate them to the Babylonian power, an- 
nouncing at the same time that Zedekiah, the 
reigning king of Judah, should also be com- 
pelled to submit to the same degradation.* To 
select another illustration from the same pro- 
phet. Whilst the armies of Nebuchadnezzar 
are besieging Jerusalem, and its conquest by 
the Chaldeans is generally expected ; when the 
death, destruction, or captivity of the inhabi- 
tants is almost morally certain, and consequent- 
ly no valuation can be attached to property, the 
enjoyment or possession of which had become 
wholly precarious ; Jeremiah, at the divine di- 
rection, buys a field within the city, pays down 
the purchase-money, requires a deed properly 
attested, has the transaction witnessed accord- 
ing to law and with remarkable circumstantial- 
ity, and adopts measures to secure the legal 
documents, that they may neither be lost nor 
injured.f ~No doubt, the ungodly portion of the 
inhabitants, who had abandoned themselves to 
the despair of infidelity, must have imagined 
that the prophet had become insane. But all 
this was done to show his faith in the divine 
promise of a future restoration, return, and re- 
settlement of the people in their own land ; 
which took place long afterwards under the de- 
cree of Cyrus. And to adduce one more in- 
stance : On occasion of the birth of a son, 
Isaiah is directed to give him a symbolical 

* Jer. xxvii. f xxxii. 



78 prophecy: 

name, indicative of the fact that the Assyrians 
should plunder Israel and Syria, powers which 
were then in hostile combination against Judah. 
In order to give publicity to the prediction, he 
is required to write the name of the child on a 
broad roll or tablet. He does so, and has the 
whole matter attested by unimpeachable wit- 
nesses of high standing and character.* In due 
time the fact takes place, and the prophecy is 
verified. 

In these and other similar instances, it cannot 
be doubted, that the prophets were fully con- 
scious of the truth and certainty of their predic- 
tions ; that they knew and felt themselves to 
be agents of God, speaking in his name, and 
consequently that the existence of error in what 
they thus announced is impossible. 

These are some of those " divers manners" 
in which God hath spoken to his prophets, and 
by them to his people and to all subsequent 
ages. The time will not permit me to draw out 
in detail any practical application of the sub- 
ject. I will therefore conclude by remarking, 
that the certainty of God's having made com- 
munications to men, and his goodness in em- 
ploying methods of conveyance, best adapted 
to the present condition of human nature, are 
alike subjects which should excite our most 
grateful emotions of thanksgiving. 

* Isaiah viii. 1, et seq. 



DISCOURSE V. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 



I have spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions 
by the ministry of the prophets.— Hose a xii. 10. 

In the last discourse I treated of certain of 
those diverse manners in which at sundry times 
God spoke to and by the prophets. The topic 
now to engage your attention, if not a continu- 
ation of the former, is at least very intimately 
allied to it. "I have multiplied visions," saith 
the Lord, "by the ministry of the prophets." 
I propose to remark on prophecy as communi- 
cated in vision. 

It has already been made sufficiently clear, 
that impressions produced on the mind of the 
prophet have to him all the vividness of reality, 
and perhaps even in a greater degree than out- 
ward actions can have by means of the usual 
bodily organs. The things predicted may be 
remote in time and place, but to the mind of 
the divine seer they are present living realities, 
and are described as such. Stationed, as it 
were, on an eminence, the prophet sees differ- 



80 prophecy: 

ent points, however distant they may be, in 
one view. In his rapt mind, he observes be- 
fore him an outline of the future, delineated 
and portrayed in different degrees of graphic 
minuteness, the prospect more or less appa- 
rently distant, sometimes obscurely marked 
and sometimes presented in bold relief, as in a 
picture ; the distant now mingling itself with 
what is close at hand, now fading away in the 
remote perspective. He follows the order of 
appearance, not that of space, or chronology, 
or history. He is intent upon the scene, and 
borne along by that commanding influence 
which fixes his whole soul upon the prospect. 
The representation is deeply impressed upon 
his mind, and when he comes again to his nat- 
ural condition, he copies what he has seen, and 
describes what he has witnessed. Any point 
of particular interest and importance which 
may have fixed the attention of the elevated 
seer, he brings out prominently by repeated 
and various representations. The copy, how- 
ever, is a faithful picture of the original, the 
description a true account of the fact ; but the 
. coloring, the style, the figures, — these are pecu- 
liar to the writer, and they are modified by the 
diversity of external circumstances, which have 
contributed to form his whole mental and mor- 
al constitution. 

Some have supposed that even the very words 
of the prophets were suggested to them by di- 



PROPHETIC VISION. 81 

vine inspiration ; and again, that in the recep- 
tion and announcement of sacred truth they 
are merely passive under the uncontrollable 
action of the Almighty, whose will they are 
compelled to announce. It makes no part of 
my plan to discuss questions of this sort, nor 
would such discussion comport very well with 
the time or the place. It may he allowable to 
say, however, that there does not seem to be 
sufficient reason for adopting such a theory. 
If it be true under the Gospel, that "the spirits 
of the prophets are subject to the prophets," 
there is no good reason why it may not be pre- 
sumed to be equally true under the Law ; and 
the command to Balaam to speak what God 
should put in his mouth, would seem useless, 
if, by the necessary condition of his prophetic 
state, he could not do otherwise. And, with 
the exception of some very marked and pecu- 
liar cases, in which the prophets themselves 
may not have been conscious of the full mean- 
ing and import of the words employed, it is 
clear that the prophecies do exhibit evidence 
of diversity of natural powers, and of charac- 
teristic peculiarities in manner and style. To 
assume that even these are but the results of 
the influence of the heavenly afflatus, is to 
multiply divine interposition to an extent en- 
tirely unwarranted by authority. 

Let us approach the Hebrew prophet, and 
catch, if possible, a glimpse of the scene that 



82 propsect: 

he surveys. The man of God is on his watch- 
tower. The Spirit of the Highest seizes him. 
He is entranced, and in holy vision gazes on 
the prospect. It is his own native country, 
" the glory of all lands, "* that lies in his view. 
Amazement overwhelms him. Silence, long 
and deep, shows his unutterable feelings. At 
length he speaks. Let us draw nearer and lis- 
ten : 

I am pained at my very heart ; 

My heart throbs within me ; 

I cannot be still. — 

For the voice of the trumpet, 

The war-shout, O my soul, thou hear'st it. 

Destruction upon destruction is cried out, 

The whole country is wasted. 

In an instant crushed are my tents, 

My hangings in a moment. 

How long must I see the standard ? 

Must hear the voice of the trumpet 1 

I behold the earth ; ' 

And, lo, it is waste and desolate ! 

The heavens, and they have no light ! 

The sun is extinguished ; 

The moon is turned into blood ; 

The stars are quenched ! 

I behold the mountains ; 

And, lo, they tremble, 

And all the hills quake. 

I behold, and, lo, there is not a man ; 

All the birds of the air have flown away. 

I behold, and, lo, Carmel is a desert : 

* Ezek. xx. 6, 15. Comp. Dan. xi. 16, 41. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 83 

All its cities are destroyed ; 
At the presence of Jehovah, 
At the presence of his fierce indignation.* 

Such are the bitter groanings which a He- 
brew prophet utters, and such the awful im- 
ages which he employs in describing the 
desolations of war when it ravages his own 
dear native land ; groanings, which force their 
way from his lacerated and bleeding heart ; 
images, the sublimity of which is only equalled 
by their terror. 

The minds of those " holy men of old, who 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," 
were so fully imbued with the thought of Mes- 
siah's advent, and of its accompanying bless- 
ings, that it naturally suggests itself, and they 
seize on every fitting occasion to bring it before 
the view of their readers. Do they represent 
the political and civil degradation of the peo- 
ple, the irreligion and immorality of the nation? 
The plain developments of this sort which they 
make, are most generally contrasted with bright 
and glowing pictures of happiness, and glory, 
and righteousness, which are to characterize 
the period of Messiah's uncontrolled dominion. 
Thus Isaiah, after depicting most graphically 
the wretched condition of the despairing sinner 
in the destitution caused by the all-powerful 

* Jer. iv. 19-26. For lines 15, 16, 17, see Isa. xiii. 10. 
Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8, and Joel ii. 10,31. 



84 prophecy: 

Assyrian, sees in the distant horizon the com- 
ing blessedness, and turns from the one scene 
to its opposite with joyous exultation. He be- 
holds the nation oppressed, the country almost 
destroyed. The wanderer passes through it 
distressed and famishing. In his desperation 
he curses his king and his God. He gazes up- 
ward, but in vain; there is no help for him in 
heaven. He looks on the earth ; behold dark- 
ness distracting and terrific. He is driven on 
in darkness. Yet this distress shall not be per- 
petual. The country at first disgraced, vilified 
and injured, shall hereafter be honored and 
made glorious. The prophet now enjoys a 
vision of future felicity, which he describes in 
his own unrivalled excellence of manner : 



The people that walked in darkness 

Behold a great light! 

They that sit in the shadow of death, 

Light beams upon them ! 

Thou hast increased the nation, 

Thou hast augmented their joy; 

They rejoice before thee as in the joy of harvest, 

As victors exult in dividing the spoil. 

For the yoke that burdened them, 

The staff that smote their shoulder, 

The rod of the oppressor, 

Thou hast broken in pieces, 

As in the day of Midian. 

For every greave of the combatant in the tumult, 

And the blood-stained war-dress, 

Is for burning, is fuel for the flames. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 85 

For a child is born unto us, 

A son is given unto us, 

And the government shall be upon his shoulder; 

And they shall call him 

Wonder, Counsellor, 

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace * 

If certain future events are through the in- 
fluence of divine Providence related to each 
other as cause and effect, or are otherwise asso- 
ciated, they may be represented in the same 
connection as if they were proximate. It is 
by no means unusual with the prophets to con- 
nect different and remote events, or conditions 
of society, depicting them in one series of repre- 
sentation, the description sometimes compre- 
hending all and being equally or directly ap- 
plicable to each, sometimes being particularly 
applicable to the nearer and . sometimes to the 
more remote, and occasionally to the one or to 
the other exclusively. Attempts have indeed 
been made to show that in all such cases as 
those in contemplation, the application of the 
prophet's language should be limited to one 
event, or one consecutive series of events, or to 
one condition continuously developing itself; 
or, if considered as comprehending two differ- 
ent classes of events, then that every portion 
of the representation must equally apply to 
each. But the latter theory is neither neces- 

* Note XVI. 
8 



86 prophecy: 

sary to explain the prophet's language, nor is 
it sustained by an examination of the facts pre- 
dicted. On the former, we must either give an 
unnatural and forced construction of the pro- 
phet's words, or deny the correctness and au- 
thority of the application made of them in the 
]STew Testament.* The principle just laid down 
is the only satisfactory one, inasmuch as none 
other is competent to sustain the divine author- 
ity of the inspired writers of both dispensa- 
tions ; and it comports with the character and 
design of the prophets in announcing the evan- 
gelical dispensation. I proceed, therefore, to 
illustrate this view. 

The return of the Jewish exiles from the cap- 
tivity in Babylon with their re-settlement in 
their own land, is certainly a most prominent 
topic, and one which is continually recurring in 
the last twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah. No 
candid reader will think of denying this. The 
national chastisement has been suffered in all 
its severity ; national iniquity is expiated and 
forgiven. The herald announces the return of 
the ransomed ones, and God's glory is revealed 
in the very act. Thus the portion begins. And 
the same view is repeatedly presented. The 
feet of the messengers that proclaim peace, 
happiness, restoration, are beautiful. The exiles 
are called on : "Go ye forth of Babylon, flee 
ye from the Chaldeans ; depart ye, depart ye, 
* Note XVn. 



PROPHETIC VISION". 87 

go ye out from thence."* However powerful 
and glorious is this kingdom now, it shall be 
dishonored, ruined, utterly devastated. All 
this is most plainly declared. But is nothing 
more intended ? If not, the various portions 
of these chapters do not naturally connect to- 
gether ; many of them not being susceptible 
of so limited an exposition, and some not bear- 
ing on the subject at all. If not, the application 
made of parts of them in the New Testament 
is inexplicable on any tenable ground. Doubt- 
less much more is intended. The return of 
mankind to God through the instrumentality 
of the gospel, the joyous announcement of the 
Messiah's forerunner, and of the glorious and 
divine Messiah himself, the downfall of the 
mystical Babylon, the empire of sin, Satan 
and the world, out of which the Redeemer's 
subjects are to be called into his true and holy 
mystical church ; these are topics which princi- 
pally occupy the prophet's mind, of which the 
other predicted facts are merely the symbols, 
the ground, as I may say, on which the pro- 
phetic picture is raised and brought out in bold 
relief. We cannot sever the one train of thought 
from the other. Both must be combined, in 
order to present a clear and consistent and sat- 
isfactory view. 

The same general principle explains also the 
application made in the New Testament of other 

* Isxlviii. 20. lii. 11. 



88 prophecy: 

portions of Isaiah^ prophecies. The tenth 
chapter predicts the downfall of the Assyrian 
power, which in the time of the prophet invaded 
and almost ruined his native country. It repre- 
sents this power as the mere agent of the Al- 
mighty in punishing his people, as the rod which, 
after it has been used for purposes of discipline 
and improvement, shall be broken and burned. 
It threatens punishment, indeed, and that se- 
vere, commingled, however, with the promise 
of preservation. There shall not be an ntter 
excision. A remnant shall escape and return, 
(v. 20, 21). This had been before promised, on 
the call of the prophet to his sacred office. The 
wasting of the cities and the houses, the desola- 
tion of the land, and the deportation of the in- 
habitants, are threatened : but the excision shall 
not be universal ; there shall be a tenth and it 
shall return.* It is impossible to donbt that 
the Assyrian conquests, and the escape and 
deliverance of a portion of the Jews, are the 
burden of the prophecy. And it is equally cer- 
tain that it comprehends also the spiritual resto- 
ration of a part of the people by conversion to 
the gospel : in the language of the prophet, the 
" return of the remnant to the mighty God ;"f 
in that of the apostle, the salvation of "the rem- 
nant according to the election of grace. "J The 
two series of events are both intended. And 

* Is. vi. 11-13. f Ib.x. 21. 

| Rom. xi. 5. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 89 

indeed they are both intimately connected, 
though not in time, as parts of one divine plan, 
and therefore they are seen in the prophet's 
vision and described in his writings as really 
conjoined. Perfectly natural, therefore, was it 
for the prophet to introduce the Messiah's king- 
dom immediately after the overthrow of the As- 
syrian ; and this he does in figures replete with 
poetic beauty. The ungodly and infidel power, 
that deified its own might,* is represented un- 
der the image of a close and immense and mag- 
nificent forest, that shall be cut down and 
wholly consumed. But, on the contrary, the 
little twig that sprouts from the stem of Jesse, 
shall grow apace, flourish and become exceed- 
ingly vigorous. "Behold the Lord, Jehovah 
of hosts, lops off the bough with a crash, con- 
sumes the glory of his forest ; and he will cut 
down the thickets with iron, and that Lebanon 
shall fall by a mighty one. But there shall 
come forth a twig from the stem of Jesse, and a 
branch shall grow out of his roots."f The 
character of the Messiah, the redemption of his 
people, and the conquest of his enemies, consti- 
tute the subjects of the next chapter; and this 
is followed by a triumphant song of holy praise.;): 
Keeping in view the principle now laid down 
and illustrated, a reader of the prophecies need 
not be surprised or feel any difficulty, when, in 

* Is. x. 7-11, 13-15. f Is. x. 33, 34. xi. 1. 

t Is. xii. 

8* 



90 prophecy: 

the midst of glowing representations of Mes- 
siah's future kingdom, he meets with clauses 
which in their connection must seem very tame, 
as they merely describe the rebuilding of wasted 
cities in Judea ; or if, along with such tame de- 
scription, he finds language of the highest ex- 
ultation and triumph, predicting the future 
magnificence of the kingdom of God in glory. 
The return from Babylon and the re-settlement 
in the promised land, and the return to God 
and admission into his kingdom and the man- 
sions prepared for the redeemed, are both com- 
ponent parts of the one great and indivisible 
theme.* 

The princijDle which has been thus applied to 
some portions of Isaiah, is equally applicable to 
other parts of the Bible. The limits of a dis- 
course, however, will not allow any extended 
illustration. 

"I will be his father, and he shall be my 
son." This is quoted in the epistle to the He- 
brews as proof of the incarnate Messiah's supe- 
riority to the angels. f But, says the objector 
to its authority and inspiration, the original 
passage in the second Book of Samuel evidently 
refers to Solomon, of whom it is immediately 
added that, " if he commit iniquity," he shall 
be punished, though not to the extremest de- 

* Compare the concluding remarks of Note XVII. 
f 2 Sam. vii. 14. Heb. i. 5. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 91 

gree. The New Testament argument, therefore, 
is altogether a mistake. 

Now we cannot deny that there is some truth 
in the statement, however unfounded we may 
rightly regard the conclusion that has been 
drawn. The prophet Nathan is sent to tell 
David that he cannot be allowed to build the 
house of God, the temple, on the erection of 
which his heart had been fully set. It com- 
ported with the divine purpose that this should 
be the work of Solomon, his son and successor. 
" I will set up thy seed after thee, and he shall 
build a house for my name :" (vs. 12, 13.) Then 
it follows : " I will be his father, and he shall 
be my son." I leave the remainder to be sup- 
plied by yourselves, as it will readily occur to 
every reader of his Bible. Now, after examin- 
ing the connection of the language in the Old 
Testament and its application in the New, in 
what way shall we relieve ourselves from the 
embarrassment which necessarily follows ? Shall 
we make an effort to explain the prophecy en- 
tirely of Christ, and thus do palpable violence 
to the context without satisfying the inquirer ? 
or, shall we affirm that the application in the 
Hebrews is an unmeaning accommodation, and 
thus set aside the authority of the sacred writer? 
or, shall we venture to say that one clause of 
the prophecy is intended exclusively of Solo- 
mon, and the very next of Christ? This is 
merely gratuitous, and contradicted by the evi- 



92 prophecy: 

dent connection of the different parts of the dis- 
course. JSTo properly thinking interpreter can 
feel satisfied with any one of these courses. 
Let us, then, bring to this case the application 
of the principle under consideration. Let us 
suppose that Nathan predicts to David a royal 
progeny, not merely an individual son, but a 
succession of kings in lineal descent, and that 
this is " the seed" of whom he is speaking. It 
is evident that, although Solomon takes his 
place as one important link in this golden chain 
of regal dignities, "a greater than Solomon" 
makes the most distinguished figure in it ; and 
that therefore whatever of excellent and honor- 
able and glorious is in a degree applicable to 
any one of the line, is most apj3ropriately and 
fully applicable to him. And what could not 
with truth be applied to him at all, must of 
course be limited to certain others in the line, 
or to some particular one. And so when it is 
said of one, namely, Solomon, " he shall build 
my house," meaning the material temple, the 
language applies in an infinitely higher sense 
to Him who was to raise up that spiritual tem- 
ple of which the material was but a symbol, 
that " house of God, the church of the living 
God," which is to become the " house of 
prayer for all nations." In this view the pre- 
diction to David receives its complete fulfilment 
only in the triumphs of David's Lord, only in 
the elevation of Christ in his human nature to 



PKOPHETIC VISION. 93 

lordship over the Universe. Consequently, it 
is abundantly sufficient to prove his superiority 
even to the highest angels.* 

Further, it is, to say the least, extremely 
probable, that this same principle affords the 
correct rule whereby to interpret several of the 
Psalms. In these sacred poems, we frequently 
meet with statements and representations of a 
very peculiar kind, apparently inapplicable to 
any ordinary human being, and yet so inti- 
mately associated with other statements and 
representations plainly intended of some mor- 
tal man or well-known character, that it be- 
comes very difficult to give a clear and contin- 
uous exposition of the whole composition, on the 
usual principles applied to language in general. 
Now let it be considered that the priestly, pro- 
phetic, and kingly offices of the Hebrews were 
institutions under divine appointment and sanc- 
tion. They were established not merely for the 
general purposes of religious instruction, wor- 
ship, and government, but also as symbolical 
institutions, bearing evidence of their own im- 
perfection and also promise of a better estab- 
lishment to come, and of a personage who 
should fully concentrate in himself whatever 
might be necessary to the perfection of the 
character and the office. Such a view har- 
monizes with the nature of the dispensation. 
The Hebrew prophet, priest or king is there- 

* Note XVIH. 



94: prophecy: 

fore not to be regarded as an isolated indi- 
vidual. He is officially connected with him 
who was to come, and properly to execute these 
high and important functions. The inspired 
Hebrew Psalmist, therefore, when speaking of 
any one of those dignitaries, would naturally 
have his mind directed to the office. He would 
not be limited by any individual subject of dis- 
course, even if his original purpose should have 
related to one person. Rather he would have 
in view the official character, the whole consec- 
utive line of individuals composing it, and of 
course Christ, as the very essential perfection of 
their nature, whom they all adumbrated, and 
in whom they all centered. On this theory, 
the difficulty before alluded to vanishes. 

Thus, in the 21st Psalm, where the author 
bursts out in the triumphant strain, "The king 
shall joy in thy strength, O Lord ; and in thy 
salvation how greatly shall he rejoice," — we 
need not restrict the application of his glowing 
language to David or Solomon, or any individ- 
ual monarch. It is the character whom he 
celebrates, the Icing of the Hebrews, compre- 
hending of course the great king Messiah. 
And thus again, " the prophet" whom God 
promises by Moses that he " will raise up," is 
not merely one individual who is to make his 
appearance at some indefinitely future period, 
but a succession of prophets, of all of whom 
Christ is the very chief and the very life. And 



PROPHETIC VISION. 95 

the same remark may be made of that " faith 
ful priest," whose permanent establishment in 
the divine favor, as the reward of conduct in 
accordance with the divine "mind," the sacred 
messenger predicted to the unhappy Eli.* 

This characteristic of prophecy, which ap- 
pears conspicuously in the Old Testament, is 
not without its parallel in the New, the import- 
ance of which may entitle it to be regarded as 
equivalent to many. Our Saviour's prophecy 
in the 24th and 25th chapters of St. Matthew, 
with the similar portions of the other Evangel- 
ists, can hardly be satisfactorily explained on 
any other theory. Several points here may be 
regarded as undeniable. The destruction of 
Jerusalem, with the concomitant establishment 
of Christ's church, is certainly predicted ; also 
his future coming in glory to judge the world, 
to punish his enemies, and to reward his faith- 
ful adherents. It is certain, too, that some 
portions of these chapters cannot possibly be 
explained of the one series of events, and some 
other portions cannot possibly be explained of 
the other. Further, the whole of the 25th 
chapter, and a portion of the 24th, manifestly 
relate exclusively to his coming in glory. On 
what ground shall a dispassionate and consis- 
tent interpreter take his stand ? Will he main- 
tain, that certain verses of the former part of 
the prediction must be explained solely of the 

* 1 Sam. ii. 35. 



98 prophecy: 

destruction of Jerusalem, and certain other 
verses in most intimate connection solely of the 
final overthrow of the impenitent ; and this 
simply because the language would suitably 
describe the respective occasions ? But the 
attempt to carry out such a principle will not 
bear examination. For not to say that the lan- 
guage, although best descriptive of one, might 
well suit either, the divine author of the pro- 
phecy did himself give a clew to the meaning 
when he said, " This generation shall not pass 
till all these things be fulfilled ;"* that is, the 
present generation of men shall not have en- 
tirely disappeared, until the antecedent predic- 
tions shall have been accomplished. We must 
therefore find some meaning of all that pre- 
cedes which shall harmonize with this declara- 
tion. And yet, certain parts of what precedes 
seem to describe Christ's future glorious com- 
ing, in poetic language of the most lofty charac- 
ter ; and it would seem harsh and unreasonable 
to limit such language to the fall of Jerusalem 
and immediately connected events. Shall we 
say that it must be limited to his future com- 
ing ? ]STot to urge that the Saviour's declara- 
tion just mentioned precludes such a resort, the 
word which introduces the poetic language 
alluded to, plainly shows that it cannot be thus 
limited. The events predicted are to take 
place immediately after the destruction of Je- 

* Matt. xxiv. 34. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 97 

rusalem by the Eomans. This determines the 
time.* The darkening of the sun, the with- 
drawing of the moon's light, the falling of the 
stars, the appearance of the Son of man on the 
clouds, the sending forth of the angels to ga- 
ther the elect, — whatever these may mean, — 
most certainly describe events chronologically 
connected with the overthrow of Jerusalem ; 
for we are told that they are to take place im- 
mediately afterwards. This conclusion we may 
safely regard as a settled point. But still the 
question recurs, do they describe nothing else ? 
And if we will answer this question on reason- 
able grounds of probability, and in accordance 
with analogous prophecy, we must say that 
they do describe something else, namely, the 
future coming of Christ, the future overthrow 
of the wicked, and the future establishment of 
the just in the everlasting and glorious heav- 
enly kingdom of their Father. Both series of 
events must be regarded as intended by the 
divine speaker, the one, in all probability, em- 
blematic of the other. 

And it is only on the same principle that we 
can explain the connection of the two last 
verses of the 16th chapter of St. Matthew. The 
" coming of the Son of man in the glory of his 
Father, with his angels," to "reward every man 
according to his works," is unquestionably his 
final coming. And yet it is placed in most in- 

* Note XIX. 
9 



98 prophecy: 

timate connection with the solemn affirmation, 
" Yerilj I say unto yon, there be some stand- 
ing here who shall not taste of death, till they 
see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." 
It mnst be evident that the two verses describe 
events which, in time, are widely separated ; 
the one class to take place while some of those 
then present were still living, and the other at 
the Saviour's final and most glorious advent. 
The reason of such connection is that the final 
glorious coming or appearing of Christ to judge 
the world, to punish his enemies, and to reward 
his followers, and his coming or appearance as 
exalted Messiah, by his resurrection, ascension, 
miraculous emission of his Spirit, overthrow of 
his rebel enemies the Jews, and consequent 
firm establishment of his church, are series of 
events analogous to each other, inasmuch as 
both strikingly illustrate, and indeed are prom- 
inent developments of his triumphant success. 

"What conclusions now shall we draw from 
this scriptural representation ? 

In the first place, we may infer that prophetic 
declarations are not always presented in the 
Bible in chronological order. The prophet is 
neither an annalist nor a historian, and his 
reader has no right to expect such a consecu- 
tive series of events as might reasonably be 
required in a historian. This would be to make 
a demand inconsistent with the very nature of 
the composition. 



PROPHETIC VISION. 99 

In ther second place, we may infer that the 
prophet nevertheless does maintain a real and 
a lncid order. It is the order of things rather 
than of time. But this is not nniversal. Nei- 
ther is it essential to his prophetic character. 
It is the one great topic which engages his at- 
tention, and fills his whole mind. What is it 
to him, raised to the third heaven, unconscious 
whether in the body or out of the body, whe- 
ther the fact predicted take place to-morrow or 
a thousand years hence ? With the divine One 
who inspires him, a thousand years are as one 
day, and one day as a thousand years ; and his 
prophetic representations partake of their Au- 
thor's character. Time is comparatively noth- 
ing. The connecting link of prophetic declar- 
ations is found principally in the nature of the 
things declared. 

Thirdly, we may infer by way of caution, 
that before one can claim a right to decide on 
some points of a prophetic nature, he must have 
carefully examined the subject in general, both 
as to the language and as to the facts. An 
isolated examination of some particular topics 
can hardly be attended by a satisfactory result. 
Indeed it can hardly be satisfactorily made, 
because the right examination of one requires a 
practical application of the principles which 
govern or modify all. While, therefore, the 
self-confident will unhesitatingly leap to a con- 
clusion, to which he will most tenaciously cling, 



LcfC 



100 PROPHECY, ETC. 

the better disciplined, and therefore generally 
more modest, will collect such information as 
may guide him in the search of truth, and when 
he cannot clearly see his way, he will patiently 
wait for further illumination. If it be withheld, 
he will humbly and submissively acquiesce ; 
if granted, he will thank God, take courage, 
and advance. 



DISCOURSE VI. 

PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 

I have spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied 
visions and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 
— Hosea xii. 10. 

The topic of prophetic vision, referred to in 
the verse just read, was the subject of my last 
discourse. I then attempted to illustrate some 
general principles bearing upon the true and 
full interpretation of many prophetic declara- 
tions. The similitudes by means of which the 
prophets were able to convey the intended 
truth with most effect, is the next point sug- 
gested by the text : "I have used similitudes 
by the prophets." 

The original verb has been interpreted by 
some eminent commentators in a passive sense ; 
by others, no less distinguished, in an active. 
Thus, according to the former view, it will be 
translated, ' I have been assimilated' or £ rep- 
resented by the prophets ;' or, which is equiv- 
alent, ; I have represented myself by' them.' 
According to the latter, the translation will be 
9* 



102 prophecy: 

as in our English Bibles, cc I have used simili- 
tudes."* It is unnecessary now to examine the 
comparative claims of these two views. The 
latter is preferable, as it conveys the simplest 
and most probable meaning. 

The prophet, no doubt, employed the word 
similitude in a very extended sense. It may 
comprehend typical institutions, or facts, or 
characters, adumbrating religious views and 
principles. It may comprise also instruction 
by means of parable and allegory, so often em- 
ployed by the prophets to convey truth or 
impress threatening. It includes all teaching 
by symbols, whether taken from natural ob- 
jects, as Jeremiah's figs ; from civil and politi- 
cal associations, as Daniel's ram and he-goat ; 
or from common occurrences in life, as Isaiah's 
walking for a time divested of his outer cloth- 
ing, and Jeremiah's visit to the house of the 
potter. "Whatever comes under these, or any 
similar categories, may be considered as im- 
plied in the term similitude. It is therefore as 
if God had said by Hosea, ' I have set before 
you various correct representations of the im- 
portant realities intended to be conveyed to 
your minds and consciences, and in such a way 
as to teach them the most clearly and impres- 
sively.' 

My intention, however, in this discourse, is 
not to examine into these various modes of in- 
* See Pococke on Hosea. pp. 684, 685, 1685, fol. 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 103 

struction by means of similitudes. I purpose 
to confine myself to a single meaning of the 
word, that of simile, comparison, or figure, in 
the common sense of the terms, in contradis- 
tinction to a merely literal signification. I have 
been led to adopt this course, in consequence 
of an extravagant application of the literal 
principle which characterizes certain expositors 
of prophecy in the present age ; and especially 
when the subject either does or is thought to 
refer to the restoration of Israel, the subjection 
of their enemies, the final coming of the Mes- 
siah, and his future and universal reign. 

The account contained in the Bible of the 
primitive condition and character of man, evi- 
dently implies that the gift of communicating 
thoughts by language was, to some extent at 
least, an original endowment, a constituent fac- 
ulty of his nature. To what degree this ability 
extended in the case of our first parents, it is 
impossible for us to say. Of one thing we are 
certain, that it was co-extensive with their ne- 
cessities and mutual satisfactions, in that "very 
good" condition of their nature in which the 
benevolent Author of their being had created 
them. And, moreover, the remarkable fact 
stated of Adam not long after his creation, that 
"whatsoever he called every living creature, 
that was the name thereof,"* proves that the 
degree of the gift could not have been very 
* Gen. ii. 19. 



104 peophecy: 

limited. Still, inasmuch as divine Wisdom does 
nothing in vain, and analogy shows ns that his 
moral and intellectual creatures are placed in 
circumstances calling on them to improve their 
natural endowments, we may reasonably infer 
that the original faculty of language was rather 
elementary than in a state of perfection, and 
that it was left to man to improve, amplify and 
extend the natural gift. It might be expected, 
then, that, in the earliest stages of the human 
race, the small stock of words known to the 
species would be applied to other objects than 
those which were at first thereby designated. 
Hence would arise a vast variety of figurative 
expressions, appearing partly in isolated meta- 
phorical words, and partly in continuous alle- 
gorical statements. These would, of course, be 
drawn from objects most familiar, and, as soci- 
ety advanced, from facts also of biography and 
history most important and interesting. In a 
short time, comparisons, similitudes, illustra- 
tions, would become almost universal : so that 
metaphorical words would be generally used 
by speakers, who had either lost all recollection 
of, or had never known, their original meaning ; 
and comparisons and allegories would be em- 
ployed to express consecutive series of events. 
In such cases the possibility of a misconception 
of meaning, most likely would never occur either 
to the speaker and writer, or to the hearer. 
The simplest biographical and historical nar- 



PEOPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 105 

ratives, therefore, might reasonably be expected 
to abound with figurative words and represen- 
tations. And the slightest examination of the 
book of Genesis shows that this is true.* And 
how much more likely is this to be the case in 
those kinds of composition which sprang from 
a more elevated state of mind, and consequently 
required a loftier and more ornate style, as, for 
instance, poetry and prophecy ! It need there- 
fore excite no surprise, if, in such portions of 
Holy Scripture, figurative language should not 
only be found to exist, but should even be the 
pervading, controlling, and predominant char- 
acteristic. 

The figurative language of the prophets is 
drawn, as might naturally be expected, from 
various sources ; sometimes from incidental cir- 
cumstances of their education and early habits ; 
sometimes from particulars connected with the 
lives of the patriarchs. It may frequently be 
traced to contemporaneous historical events, 
and still more frequently to well-known and 
important facts in the general history of the 
Hebrew nation. In the remarks and illustra- 
tions which follow, I shall confine myself chiefly, 
if not exclusively, to the two latter, and princi- 
pally indeed to the last. 

The most remarkable series of facts taking 
place under the direction of Jehovah, the God 
of the whole earth, yet particularly of the He- 
* Note XX. 



106 prophecy: 

brews, was undoubtedly the deliverance of the 
nation by the instrumentality of Moses from 
Egyptian bondage, their miraculous passage 
through the Red Sea, their wanderings for forty 
years in the Arabian desert under divine guid- 
ance, and their settlement at last in the prom- 
ised land, led by the victorious Joshua. If we 
keep in mind the general truth, of which we 
are sufficiently assured by divine revelation, 
that the Mosaic economy was symbolical of 
"good things to come," we shall feel no diffi- 
culty in recognizing the particular truth, no less 
clearly taught by the same sacred authority, 
that the promised land was a figure of the reli- 
gious man's heavenly inheritance, including 
also that heavenly condition of reconciliation to 
God and blessed acceptance by him, in which 
the sincere believer is placed by the gospel. 

It is therefore altogether natural, that the 
holy prophets, writing under the absorbing in- 
fluence of that " faith which is the confident 
and substantial expectation of things hoped 
for," should employ those facts in the history 
of their ancestors, facts on which the religious 
and patriotic memory loved to linger, as illus- 
trative of the spiritual blessings which they 
would portray. And, on the same principle, 
the return of the exiles from Babylonia and 
Assyria, their happy restoration to civil and 
religious privileges in their own regenerated 
land, and city, and church, the overthrow of 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 107 

their implacable enemies, together with cir- 
cumstances connected with these most interest- 
ing events, would naturally become a store- 
house, whence to draw illustrations of future 
spiritual benediction and happiness. The prince 
of Grecian orators rises to the most striking 
climax of his eloquence by an appeal to one of 
the proudest monuments of his country's honor ;* 
and the most glowing and heart-stirring repre- 
sentations of the prophets are figurative deline- 
ations of future glory, drawn from the brightest 
pages which record the triumphs of God's an- 
cient church and people. 

Most of the prophets afford ample illustra- 
tions of this remark. Let me appeal first to 
the writings of Isaiah. In the 11th chapter he 
introduces the Messiah under the figure of 
a twig or branch, in contradistinction to the 
mighty Lebanon, the prostrated Assyrian power. 
He describes the Messiah's character, his gifts, 
the peaceful felicity that should distinguish his 
reign, the universality of his blessed and holy 
influence, vs. 1-9. He predicts the union of the 
Gentiles with the recovered people of the Lord 
wherever dispersed, under the same divine 
Head ; the cessation of mutual hostility, and 
their united efforts in opposition to all enemies 
whomsoever. Divine interposition is promised. 
Obstructions shall be removed, and every ne- 
cessary facility be afforded, to advance the 
* Demosthenes on the Crown, sect. 60 ? 



108 trophect: 

joyous consummation, 10-16. A hymn of 
thanksgiving closes the subject, xii. 

JSTow all this is exhibited in a succession of 
beautiful figures, partly taken from a supposed 
golden age of animal nature, partly perhaps 
from the deportations to which the Hebrews 
had been at various times subjected ; partly 
from jealous and rival animosities which had 
of old rankled in the breasts of Jews and 
Ephraimites. The old and implacable enemies 
of the Israelites, namely, the Philistines, Moab- 
ites, and others, represent the spiritual foes of 
Messiah's kingdom, to whom his redeemed ones 
are to grant no quarter. The favor of God in 
rescuing his people from the slavery of sin, 
Satan and the world, is described in figurative 
language, taken from the drying up of the Red 
Sea, and the miraculous guidance through the 
desert, as on "a highway." And the very song 
of praise, in which the redeemed are made to 
testify their gratitude, is founded on that which 
"Moses and the children of Israel sang," on 
emerging from the sea, and escaping the ven- 
geance of their oppressors. To this song allu- 
sion is also made in the words of the Apocalypse, 
" The song of Moses, and the song of the 
Lamb."* 

Let us look at another instance of this figura- 
tive language, taken from the same deliverance 
from Egypt, only carried out more extensively 
* Note XXL 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 109 

The second chapter of Hosea is a prophetic dis- 
course, founded upon the representation, con- 
tained in the former chapter, of the idolatry, 
rejection, and subsequent forgiveness and ac- 
ceptance of the Israelites. In this discourse 
the prophet's mind evidently dwells on the his- 
torical facts just mentioned, allusions to which 
he interweaves along with his own original 
thoughts. The figure is that of a wife who had 
become faithless and abandoned. She is urged 
to reformation under threats of severest punish- 
ment. Her infamous conduct in leaving her 
husband and attaching herself to favorites who 
were supposed to supply her with comforts, fig- 
uratively represents Israelitish idolatry, con- 
temptuous neglect of God, and devotion to false 
objects of worship, v. 2-5.* The figure is kept 
up in the following verses, where the methods 
employed by divine goodness to reclaim the 
wanderer are depicted under the same image, 
with an occasional intermingling of threats de- 
nounced in literal terms, 6-13. In further 
describing this attempt and its results, the lan- 
guage proceeds thus i "I will allure her, and 
bring her into the wilderness, and speak com- 
fortably unto her. And I will give her her 
vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor 
for a door of hope ; and she shall sing there, as 

* In marking the verses I have followed the English 
translation, which varies from the notation in the Hebrew. 
10 



110 prophecy: 

in the days of her youth, and as in the day when 
she came up out of the land of Egypt," 14, 15. 
The wilderness is in manifest allusion to the 
wanderings in the desert preparatory to the en- 
trance into Canaan, and the speaking comforta- 
ably to the promises, accompanied by frequent 
interpositions of divine favor, by which those 
wanderings were marked. Vineyards are figu- 
rative of recruited strength, and consequently 
of satisfaction and joy. The valley of Achor 
refers to the narrative recorded in the book of 
Joshua. The name, which signifies trouble, 
was imposed on the place in memory of the 
unworthy conduct of Achan, and of its imme- 
diate detection and severe punishment. His 
criminal transgression of God's command had 
brought great trouble upon the Israelites, and 
involved them in a signal defeat, and that soon 
after they had entered the enemy's land. But 
the prophet's prediction is not one of distress 
and trouble ; on the contrary, it is an announce- 
ment of favor and happiness. Therefore, says 
he, from the very desert, dry and barren, God 
will give vineyards ; and the valley, whose 
name even is a perpetual memorial of the 
trouble once occasioned there, shall open before 
you in all its beauty with loveliest prospects 
of hope. The same allusion is made also by 
Isaiah. He is speaking of the union of Gentiles 
with the spiritual "seed of Jacob" in the church 
of the Messiah. Under the appellations "mine 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. Ill 

elect and my servants," he promises them a 
continuance of the divine blessing, and employs 
figures taken from the country long possessed 
by the nation, and endeared to them by innu- 
merable associations. " Sharon shall be a fold 
of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for 
the herds to lie down in, for my people that 
have sought me." And, to make it evident 
that this cannot possibly be interpreted, either 
literally or figuratively, merely of converted 
Jews dwelling happily nnder the divine favor in 
the land of Palestine, we have only to examine 
the context, which does most certainly compel us 
to comprehend converted Gentiles. Its whole 
tenor might be adduced as confirmatory of the 
truth of this remark, but it is sufficient to quote 
the first words of the chapter, which are ap- 
plied by St. Paul to such Gentiles in contradis- 
tinction to unbelieving Jews : " lam sought of 
them that asked not for me ; I am found of 
them that sought me not /" that is, I have be- 
come known by Gentiles who formerly neglect- 
ed me, but who now seek my favor.* In the 
discourse of Hosea the penitent and redeemed 
people pour out praises to God their Saviour 
as the youthful nation also did when delivered 
from the fear of their Egyptian tyrants. 

Let us attend now to the other leading fact in 
Hebrew history, which has supplied the sacred 
seers with figures or symbols whereby to illus- 
* Isa. lxv. 10, I. Rom. x. 20. 



112 peophecy: 

trate future spiritual blessings. The same evan- 
gelical prophet will furnish abundant materials. 
The return from the Babylonian captivity 
and the re-establishment in the promised land 
are, as I have before said, prominent subjects 
of the latter portions of Isaiah's prophecies. 
These events are seen by him in prophetic vi- 
sion. They were yet to come. In this particu- 
lar they differ from the other class of events, 
which had become matters of well-authenti- 
cated history, manifestations of miraculous 
power, and accomplishments of old and often- 
repeated divine promises. It might, therefore, 
be presumed, that the use of future although 
certain facts as figures or symbols of other facts 
yet more and perhaps vastly more future still, 
would be more limited and less definitely mark- 
ed than the use of facts well known to all, and 
regarded by all as the very ground of national 
glory. Reasonable anticipations of the fu- 
ture prosperity of our own beloved and most 
highly favored country cannot but delight and 
animate every patriotic citizen, and prompt the 
prayer that we may ever continue civilly and 
politically one, and also become one morally 
and religiously. But what American heart 
does not beat with a peculiar feeling at the 
thought of the revolutionary struggle and the 
revolutionary glory ? not sustained nor acquired 
without aid, not miraculous indeed but wonder- 
fully providential, from the same divine source 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 113 

that effected the deliverance of the Hebrews 
from Egypt, and their establishment as a 
" great and understanding people." The He- 
brew prophet cannot lose his character as a 
Hebrew patriot, nor fail to make his appeals to 
his fellow-countrymen as patriots also. Conse- 
quently his figures and pictures and symbols 
taken from the former events must be more 
graphical and more clearly developed than 
those drawn from any subsequent deliverance, 
however important. 

In the time of the prophet Isaiah, his country 
was invaded by the Assyrians, whose armies 
devastated large portions, and struck terror into 
the hearts of the inhabitants. Parts of his 
prophecies, and the corresponding history in the 
first Book of the Kings, contain a record of the 
facts. And even as early as his time the Baby- 
lonian power had begun to develop 'its charac- 
teristic pride and insolence. This was the chief 
instrument employed by God to chastise his 
sinful and idolatrous people. Judea was in- 
vaded, Jerusalem taken and sacked, the glo- 
rious temple pillaged and burned, the king 
blinded and imprisoned, his subjects reduced 
to captivity in a strange land. But their con- 
dition, although deplorable, was not hopeless. 
A happy return to their country and to their 
God had been predicted, and accordingly it 
took place. The old dwelling-places teemed 
again with inhabitants, and the waste and deso- 
10* 



114: prophecy: 

late cities were rebuilt and occupied. Jerusa- 
lem became a joy in the land, and the second 
temple was erected on the ruins of the first, 
much inferior, indeed, in splendor to that of 
Solomon the truly magnificent, but yet a noble 
structure, not unfit for the imposing religious 
services to the celebration of which it was de- 
voted. All these events the prophet foresees 
and describes. But, in connection with them, 
he describes also the return of all the true Is- 
raelites, whether Jews or Gentiles, to God, by 
conversion to Christ and union in his church, 
of which the material temple was a symbol. In 
this description, he intermingles figures sug- 
gested by the literal captivity, return, and re- 
building. As the heathen, influenced doubt- 
less by the example of Cyrus, facilitated the 
restoration of the exiles, their future union with 
the Jews in Messiah's kingdom is expressed by 
the figure of turning their wealth and personal 
services to the advantage of the church, and 
threats are denounced against all who shall re- 
fuse to render such service, to contribute such aid, 
and to unite in solemn public acts of religion. 

I would now illustrate what has been said ; 
although I am well aware that, to treat the sub- 
ject pro]:>eriy and fully would rather require a 
volume than the concluding pages of a sermon. 

The 60th chapter of Isaiah is undoubtedly 
one of the most sublime compositions extant. 
"Were it merely a production of human genius, 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 115 

I would not hesitate to speak of it as among the 
most noble and brilliant conceptions of the hu- 
man mind. The leading thought is the restora- 
tion, development, establishment, progress and 
advancement to perfect final happiness and 
glory, of God's kingdom. On this woof the in- 
spired author weaves the warp of illustration, 
thick and full, crowded with the richest and 
most beautiful imagery, rightly to appreciate 
which, requires a mind somewhat in harmony 
with the intellectual, moral, and spiritual con- 
dition of the prophet. The subject of the 
composition is the church of the living God. 
Distressed and degraded by the character and 
condition of its own members, wholly incompe- 
tent to raise itself from its deplorable destitu- 
tion, the coming of its divine Redeemer with 
the gift of his Spirit is announced.* And in 
view of the blessed results which are to follow, 
the prophet calls on the depressed community 
to "arise," and to reflect the divine light which 
is beaming upon them. Gentiles are to be at 
tracted by it. Even the noblest are to be drawn 
from a distance, aiding the weak members of 
the old relationship, and pouring joy and grati- 
tude into their bosoms, v. 1-5. In illustration of 
this idea the prophet brings together whatever 
was regarded as most useful and valuable in 
surrounding and in distant countries. In vast 
numbers, and in most direct and rapid course, 
* Isaiah lix. 16-21. 



116 pkophect: 

they hurry on to aid, comfort and swell the 
multitude. JSTo necessary and useful service 
shall be withheld from the divinely favored 
body on whom Jehovah has "had mercy," 
6-10. Safety and conscious security are ex- 
pressed under the figure of " gates continually 
open," which also conveys the idea of accumu- 
lation of prosperity and subjection of adversa- 
ries represented as captives, led into the me- 
tropolis, 11, 12. Vegetable nature, in all the 
glory of its most imposing and splendid forms, 
contributes to heighten the general effect. Op- 
posers are to be subjugated ; a mighty and uni- 
versal change is to take place in the condition 
of the once despised community. The ordinary 
productions of a richly endowed country are to 
be superseded by such as are vastly better. 
The government is to be in the highest sense 
happy and righteous ; and everything is to in- 
dicate safety of condition and gratitude of mind, 
11-18. Permanent felicity of the most exalted 
kind is promised, in poetic figures commensu- 
rate with the elevated theme. The material 
sun and moon are too dim and changeful to af- 
ford light adapted to so glorious a state. Their 
Maker diffuses the correspondent illumination, 
and dispels all sorrow. Righteousness and sta- 
bility and ever-increasing strength become per- 
petual ; and thus the glory of the Lord is ad- 
vanced, 19-22. 

It is impossible to read these and other such 



PEOPHETIO SIMILE AND FIGUEE. 117 

prophetic delineations of a nappy future, with- 
out feeling at once that the language is in the 
highest degree figurative and poetic. Most of 
it cannot possibly be otherwise regarded. In- 
termingled with these poetic representations, 
passages do indeed occur which are susceptible 
of a literal interpretation. It is possible that 
" strangers may build the walls" of Jewish 
cities, and that " kings may minister" to the 
restored Hebrew nation. It is possible that in 
the period referred to, the gates of Jerusalem 
shall be continually left open. It is possible 
that a new temple may be built on the site now 
occupied by the mosque of Omar, that the 
growth of Lebanon may contribute to its beau- 
ty, and that the most precious stones that can 
be procured in Europe and Asia may decorate 
its walls, and gleam from the gorgeous columns 
of its lofty and magnificent arches. All these, 
and other things of the same sort, are quite pos- 
sible. But what reader of taste and suitable 
elevation of feeling does not perceive, that to 
put such a meaning on these passages is to de- 
grade them from their proper position, and thus 
to make the prophet speak in a manner unwor- 
thy both of himself and of his theme. To pre- 
serve harmony with the context, we must regard 
them as figures, taken, it may be, in part, from 
historical facts, but still figurative specifica- 
tions, designed as portions of a complete repre- 
sentation of some future great and glorious 



118 prophecy: 

consummation. The prophet having his eye 
on the series of events before mentioned, may 
occasionally intermingle a figurative descrip- 
tion of the one with a literal statement of some 
fact constituting a part of the other. As when, 
in the clear cloudless night, we view the bright 
planetary orbs and shining suns that stud the 
azure firmament with their glistening gold, to 
our imperfect natural vision all appear to lie in 
one and the same plane equally distant from 
the eye ; so the prophet may see the near and 
the remote placed as it were together, and may 
now speak of what is close at hand, and then 
immediately of what may in reality be thou- 
sands of ages beyond it in the distant future. 
Thus he may speak of the building and repair- 
ing of dilapidated cities immediately on the re- 
turn from Babylon in close connection with the 
glorious state of Messiah's kingdom in a very 
remote period ; and he may quite consistently 
introduce both even in the same sentence.* 
He does not assert their proximity; he only 
speaks of them as they appear. Still it is quite 
probable that he employs the former as a figure 
whereby to describe the latter. That this is 
sometimes done we have the express testimony 
of St. James. The apostle's quotation is from 
Amos, but he adduces it as one among a num- 
ber of prophetic representations. " To this 
agree the words of the prophets, as it is writ- 

* See Note XVII, towards the end. 



PEOPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGTJEE. 119 

ten: After this I will return and will build 
again the tabernacle of David which is fallen 
down ; and I will build again the ruins thereof, 
and I will set it up."* What means this re- 
building of the ruinous tabernacle of David ? 
Certainly not a literal one, for the language is 
employed to introduce a prediction of the union 
of Gentiles with the church of God. It is un- 
doubtedly figurative of the spiritual restoration 
of David's authority in the person of him to 
whom the right belongs,f Jesus, of whom 
David in the plenitude of his power, was but a 
faint adumbration. And if this language of 
Amos is figurative, why may not all such lan- 
guage be figurative ? Yery much of prophetic 
declaration must necessarily be thus regarded. 
Zechariah represents the future religious condi- 
tion of the church universal by the idea of all 
nations going to Jerusalem every year " to keep 
the feast of tabernacles." Extravagant inter- 
pretation, abandoning the guidance of good 
sense, has gone so far as to assert a literal 
meaning even here ; but what will be said of 
Isaiah's prediction, which speaks of a similar 
visit to the temple " every Sabbath ?" Were 
not some men's minds possessed by the very 
demon of prejudice, it would seem impossible 
to mistake the intention of the prophetic writ- 
ings in such places. Doubtless it never occur- 
red to their wise and holy authors, that folly 

* Acts xv. 16. f Ezek. xxi. 32. (Eng. 27.) 



120 prophecy: 

and fanaticism could be carried to such an ex- 
treme as the attempt to force on their words a 
literal exposition, involving what is in the highest 
degree both ludicrous and contemptible.* All 
such language is figurative. This is self-evi- 
dent. And if so, why may not other places be 
also figurative ? If the promised land were an 
emblem of future glorious felicity in Messiah's 
kingdom begun on earth and perpetuated in 
heaven, of which the epistle to the Hebrews 
gives certain warrant ;f why may not perma- 
nent settlement in that land with full enjoy- 
ment of its benefits, be figurative of everlasting 
happiness in that kingdom? If the Jewish 
temple were a symbol of Christ's church, why 
may not the re-edification of that temple, its 
elevation and adornment and stability, be figu- 
rative of the glory and perpetuity of that 
church against which " the gates of hell shall 
not prevail ?" If the splendid services per- 
formed in the tabernacle and temple, and its 
ecclesiastical and religious divinely appointed 
officers, be introductory to something better 
and more perfect ; why may not the predicted 
sacrifices, and the priests and Levites, be figu- 
rative of Him who is, properly speaking, the 

* Note XXII. 

f Any illustration of this remark is purposely omitted, as 
a more favorable opportunity will be afforded in a small 
work on the Epistle to the Hebrews which the author in- 
tends to publish. 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 121 

only sacrifice and the only priest ? Such a view 
preserves consistency ; it agrees with the repre- 
sentations contained in the New Testament ; it 
does no violence to language ; it yields nothing 
to fanatical extravagance ; it is altogether rea- 
sonable ; and it comports perfectly with the 
highest degree of religious character. 

The development of the present favored and 
future glorious condition of Christ's holy cath- 
olic church, to which the subject has most 
naturally led, is happily in harmony with the 
spirit of the religious commemoration in which 
our venerated nursing mother, with that cordial 
affection which is prompted alike by natural 
sympathy and Christian benevolence, has kindly 
invited us to participate.* We of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church in this vast and growing 
country, are greatly indebted to the venerable 
"Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," 
whose third Jubilee both mother and daughter 
unite in celebrating. To the Christian and 
missionary action of this most important insti- 
tution, our church before the revolutionary war 
owed in some places her very existence, and in 
many her continued life and growth. By its 
assistance, many a church was built in our then 
western wilds; wilds which are now, by the 

* This discourse was delivered June 22, 1851, the day 
appointed for the celebration of the third Jubilee of " the 
venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in For- 
eign Parts." 

11 



122 prophecy: 

blessing of the God who of old conducted the 
Israelites through the desert, and established 
them in " the glory of all lands," highly culti- 
vated, adorned with productive farms, beauti- 
ful villages, nourishing towns and cities, all 
teeming with inhabitants, industrious, enter- 
prising, energetic, both physically and men- 
tally, and likely at no very distant time to take 
a stand in whatever is good and useful, second 
to none among the great and the enterprising 
of the earth. By the aid of this same society, 
many a reverend, and holy, and self-denying 
missionary of the cross was sustained and 
cheered in his lonely position, as the church's 
messenger, sent forth by her to " prepare the 
way of the Lord," to preach the gospel to the 
poor> to bind up the broken in heart, and to 
spread the glad tidings of salvation. By the 
funds of this same society, and in this connection 
let me say also, with the co-operation of that 
royal personage whose active benevolence se 
cured for her the well-earned title of " the gooa' 
queen Anne," many a library was founded, of 
books not ephemeral in their character, but ot 
sterling worth and much pecuniary cost ; and, 
in some churches, the communion plate pre- 
sented by the daughter of the last of the Stuarts 
still appears on "the holy table," as a memento 
of the kindness of one Christian heart, that de- 
lighted to gladden the hearts of others known 
only by " the communion of saints," that cath- 



PROPHETIC SIMILE AND FIGURE. 123 

olic bond which knits together " God's elect in 
one holy fellowship," merging all human titles 
and distinctions in that most honorable and en- 
dearing of all appellations, brethren and sisters 
in Christ. 

In view, then, of these reminiscences, shall 
we be cold ? Shall we listlessly sit down un- 
der our own widely-spreading vine and fruit- 
bearing fig-tree, where neither autocrat nor 
anarchist can make us afraid, enjoying our 
benefactions with selfish delight, without a 
thought of the destitution of our less favored 
brethren ? God forbid ! What said the man 
who was " not a whit behind the very chief of 
the apostles?" "I am a debtor both to the 
Greeks and to the barbarians, to the bond and 
to the free." His gratitude to God for the 
blessings of the gospel, which he felt and ap- 
preciated, compelled him to regard himself as 
under obligation to God's creatures. To the 
Maker he could pay nothing. All had come 
from him as his " unmerited gift ;" and there- 
fore his big and burning heart looked out on the 
creatures of infinite power and beneficence, as 
the only objects whom his grateful regard 
could benefit. He would show his thankful- 
ness to God by devoting his life to their good. 
Glorious illustration of high-souled excellence ! 
Noble example of sublime Christian character, 
worthy of being regarded as an exalted stan- 



124: PK0PHECY, ETC. 

dard of imitation by Christians of all subsequent 
ages ! 

Let us, then, beloved brethren, contribute 
what aid may be in our power to send the gos- 
pel to needy brethren residing in remote regions 
of our own native land, or to the heathen in 
distant realms. Let us give our prayers ; our 
endeavors to grow in Christian character by 
cherishing and cultivating universal love ; our 
money, "as each one hath received the gift;" 
and our personal efforts to advance the interests 
of religion, within whatever sphere of action it 
may have pleased divine Providence to place 



DISCOURSE VII. 

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE INTERPRETER. 

Word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed. 
—2 Peter i. 19. 
The wise shall understand. — Dan. xii. 10. 

In the discourses on prophecy already deliv- 
ered to you, I have endeavored to show its 
divine origin, the gradually progressive nature 
of its development, the most usual and the 
most important methods in which it was com- 
municated, its comprehensiveness and particu- 
lar reference to the divine Messiah, and the 
figurative and poetic character of the composi- 
tions in which it is imbodied. I propose, in 
this last discourse, to offer some suggestions in 
reference to the qualifications to be attained, at 
least in a considerable degree, in order to a 
right interpretation of scriptural prophecy. 

My hearers will not, I trust, fail to bear in 
mind, that, as the Christian preacher is not the 
less obliged to inculcate the necessity of right- 
eousness and holiness because he may justly be 
conscious of great deficiencies in his own moral 
11* 



126 prophecy: 

and religious character, so neither can I be 
reasonably expected to lessen or modify the 
requisitions of an interpreter on account of a 
freely acknowledged incompetency in very 
many respects. The remarks to be made may, 
therefore, have a fair claim for consideration in 
the abstract. 

The various qualifications essential to a com- 
petent interpretation of the prophetic parts of 
holy Scripture, may be divided into two gen- 
eral classes, intellectual and moral. 

I. Of necessary intellectual qualifications, the 
very first, without which there can be no well- 
ascertained and settled exposition, is a compe- 
tent knowledge of the language of the prophets 
in general, and of the particular usage of each. 
To prove or illustrate so plain and self-evident 
a principle, would certainly be a gratuitous la- 
bor, as it carries its own demonstration along 
with it. If we wish to understand what is spo- 
ken, we must be ourselves acquainted with the 
language of the speaker. Otherwise we must 
depend upon the interpretation of another, and 
this would be to abandon the object ; for, in 
this case, we should be compelled implicitly to 
trust the interpreter. And, as most writers and 
speakers have certain modes of expression or 
thought proper to themselves, which often give 
a coloring to their representations, the inter- 
preter who would catch their full meaning must 
not neglect these peculiarities. All this, there- 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 127 

fore, may well be presumed, as no sensible per- 
son will think of questioning its correctness. 
And yet there would be no difficulty to fill a 
volume with quotations from works on the pro- 
phecies, proving to the satisfaction of every 
intelligent reader, that the authors were unac- 
quainted with the meaning of the words em- 
ployed by the prophet, and indeed that they 
had framed interpretations without any refer- 
ence to the original language of the prediction. 
Thus, for example, we have one popular expos- 
itor, introduced to us as "a celebrated English 
divine," who applies to the Jews, and argues 
from the application with a view of sustaining 
a system, a Hebrew word which is never used 
of them, but always of the Gentiles. Then 
again, another interpreter of prophecy calls his 
reader's attention in a particular passage to a 
pronoun as very important, and to which he 
attaches particular emphasis ; and when we 
examine the Hebrew original, we are surprised 
to find that it contains no pronoun at all, and 
that this word, so important to be noted in or- 
der to bring out the full meaning of the pro- 
phet, has been added by the translator !* 

This necessary qualification of an interpreter 
requires also an ability to distinguish between 
prose and poetry, between proper language 
and figurative. It is sometimes no easy matter 
to make this discrimination. Much depends on 
* Note XXIII. 



128 prophecy: 

natural feeling, much on cultivated taste, and 
very much on careful observation of Scripture 
and prophetic usage. It is in this last particu- 
lar, I apprehend, that interpreters have fre- 
quently erred. They have explained literally 
multitudes of declarations which, in all proba- 
bility, are figurative of ideas entirely different 
from those assumed by the literal expositor to 
be the inspired prophet's meaning. They have 
explained in detail, and thus have applied to 
various minute points of history, particulars 
which are nothing but circumstantial amplifica- 
tions, illustrating some general view which the 
prophet intends to impress upon the mind of 
his reader. I have shown, in a former dis- 
course, how necessary it is that the expositor 
should rightly appreciate the figurative charac- 
ter of the prophetic language, in order to enter 
into the spirit of his author, and shall therefore 
at present restrict my illustrations to the other 
point. 

The subject predicted may be the govern- 
ment of the Messiah. Its nature and character, 
the mode of administering it, the happy conse- 
quences resulting, are all expressed by repre- 
sentations taken from objects and usages well 
known. He is commissioned by God, and en- 
dowed with ability to act the part of a right- 
eous judge, and a kind and equitable ruler. 
Spiritual talents of various kinds are imparted 
to him. He is the protector of the poor, and 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 129 

his avenger against the tyrannical oppressor. 
Righteousness and happiness are to be general, 
and he is to be universally reverenced. The 
inhabitants of barren wastes shall submit to 
hjro, and all kings shall do him the oriental 
homage of offering costly presents. Every day 
his grateful subjects shall pray for him. The 
productions of the soil are to abound beyond 
all precedent. "Wild and noxious animals are 
to change their nature, and mingle in kind and 
loving union with those whom their cruel and 
savage passions would prompt them to destroy. 
JSTeither hunger, nor sickness, nor death, nor 
any kind of evil, shall then molest the favored 
subjects of this heaven-commissioned King. 
They shall dwell forever securely and happily 
in the land promised as the everlasting rest of 
the true Israel.* "Who now does not see that 
the single thought of the prophet is that of 
unmingled and permanent blessedness, and 
that all these particulars are poetic and beauti- 
ful specifications and adornments of the one 
general idea ? Whether they shall all be real- 
ized or not, is immaterial as regards the fulfil- 
ment of the prediction. 

Or again, the topic is that of the utter over- 
throw of the enemies of God and his church, 
depicted, it may be, under the symbol of the 
destruction of Babylon. Then its walls are to 

* Ps. lxxii. Isa. xi. lxv. 18-25. Ps. xxxvii. 9, 11. Isa. 
lvii. 13. lviii. 14. lx.21. 



130 prophecy: 

be dismantled. It shall become a desolation. 
Every living being therein shall be destroyed. 
Not a traveller shall pass through it. It shall 
never be inhabited, except by wild beasts, dra- 
gons and satyrs. Its fall shall put out the 
stars, darken the sun and moon, shall shake the 
heavens, and move the earth out of its place.* 
The leading thought is what the prophet in- 
tends to impress, and that is, utter and irre- 
trievable ruin. If an accurate literal fulfilment 
in every minute particular be demanded, it will 
be impossible to maintain the truth of the pro- 
phecy. 

The practice of amplifying a general idea, 
though common to all poetry of an elevated 
kind, may be said to be peculiarly characteris- 
tic of Hebrew poetry. We see it in the song 
of praise poured forth by the grateful mother 
of Samuel, and repeated by the meekly sub- 
missive and highly favored Mary. The one 
thought of gratitude to God as the beneficent 
author and controller of human destinies, ex- 
alting and depressing at his pleasure, is the 
animating spirit of the thanksgiving, and it is 
developed in various particulars. f The same 
principle may be applied in part to the impre- 

* Isa. xiii. 9, 10, 13, 20, 21, 22. xiv. 23. xxxiv. 10, 13, 
14. N. B. These last three verses relate to Idumea, but 
the principle involved is that of the text. Jerem. 1. 39. li. 
26, 37. 

f See 1 Sam. ii. 1-10. Luke i. 46-55. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTEEPEETEE. 131 

catory Psalms, and also to the minute descrip- 
tion of the symbolical temple of Ezekiel and 
St. John. As in figures and parables the main 
points are to be principally noted, circumstan- 
tial details being introduced merely to give 
consistency and seeming probability to narra- 
tion ; so in prophecies, it is the leading thought 
which imbodies the prediction.* 

While this is generally true of prophetic an- 
nouncements, it is not to be doubted that we 
do find occasionally a very minute particular 
most strikingly verified in the facts of history, f 
Still this cannot militate against a principle 
which prophetic revelations in general demon- 
strate to be well founded. 

Another requisite of a competent interpreter 
of prophecy, is a thorough and minute ac- 
quaintance with Old Testament history. Irre- 
spective of any examination of the writings of 
the prophets, it might reasonably be presumed 
that men of their character and condition, full 
of the one idea of their own covenant relation 
to the God of their ancestors, and the conse- 
quent fulfilment of his ancient promises, would 
love to refer, on all suitable occasions, to the 
story of their venerated progenitors, and to 
draw therefrom illustrations of the subject on 
which they were discoursing, and would natu- 
rally, and even unconsciously, adopt the very 
language of the inspired documents that con- 

* Note XXIV. f Note XXV. 



132 prophecy: 

tained the narratives. And such is really the 
case. It has been shown in a preceding dis- 
course, that facts of Hebrew history are often 
made the basis of prophetic announcements or 
illustrations ; and it might be shown further, 
that occasionally the very language of the nar- 
rative is employed, proving most conclusively 
the antiquity of the • historical document, the 
accuracy of the prophetical writer, and his firm 
conviction of the fulfilment of the prediction 
contained in the ancient record.* And it might 
further still be shown that later prophets quote 
the language of former, when both are predict- 
ing the same general blessing.f 

But a knowledge of Old Testament history is 
also necessary both to make clear and to con- 
firm certain prophetic announcements. I refer 
especially to that contained in the historical 
records of events which transpired after the 
settlement in the promised land. It is impos- 
sible to understand the allusions of the prophets 
and their developments of the great theme 
which constituted the general burden of their 
discourses, unless we become familiar with the 
narratives in the Books of Judges, Samuel and 
Kings. The harmonious union of all in the 
peaceful kingdom of the Messiah, is expressed 

* Comp. Ps. xxii. 28. lxxii. 17, with Gen. xii. 3. xxviii. 
14. xxii. 18. 

f Comp. Ps. ii. 8. lxxii. 8, with Zech. ix. 10; and Ps. 
xxii. 29, with Obad. 21. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 133 

by the evangelical prophet in these words : 
" The envy of Ephraim shall depart, and those 
of Judah that are adversaries shall be cut off; 
Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall 
not vex Ephraim."* Former history throws 
light on the representation. Ephraim is often 
used to denote the kingdom of Israel, that of 
the ten tribes who revolted from the older au- 
thority of the house of David, through the in- 
fluence of Jeroboam, subsequently to which event 
the two kingdoms were frequently engaged in 
war. But this revolt did not originate the 
hatred. On the contrary, it sprang, most prob- 
ably, out of a state of hostile feeling which 
had been cherished for ages, though doubtless 
it increased this hostility in a very great de- 
gree. This feeling displays its excitable char- 
acter in the reign of David, when a " fierce" 
quarrel arose between " the men of Israel and 
the men of Judah," on occasion of showing at- 
tentions to the king after the rebellion of Ab- 
salom had been subdued. f And indeed the 
same bitterness and rabid hatred between the 
descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, shows 
itself as early as the time of Jephthah, when 
the latter cruelly massacred multitudes of the 
former at " the passages of Jordan." J Atten- 
tion to these particulars of Hebrew history 
places the prophet's representation of the mu- 

* Isa. xi. 13. f 2 Sam. xix. 41-43. 

I Judg. xii. 5, 6. 



134: prophecy: 

tual love of Messiah's subjects in the clearest 
and most beautiful contrast with former long- 
cherished hostility. And the eagerness with 
which they will wage a holy warfare with sin 
and Satan, and all the enemies of their divine 
Lord, is graphically described under the figure 
of attacking in united band the Philistines and 
other inveterate foes of the Hebrew nation.* 

A minute and careful attention to the history 
often removes objections which have been urged 
against the accuracy of certain prophecies. 
Thus, for example, it has been objected, that 
the language of Isaiah, " within three score and 
five years shall Ephraim be broken that it be not 
a people," f is not consistent with the fact that 
the kingdom of Israel expired about eighteen 
years after the time in which Isaiah spake, 
when an Assyrian monarch put an end to the 
dynasty in the person of the last king, Hoshea. 
But the prophet's inspired vision penetrates far 
beyond this proximate event. Subsequently to 
this, the inhabitants were removed into certain 
countries of Asia, the land lay desolate for 
many years, and long afterwards a later Assyr- 
ian monarch introduced a colony of his own 
subjects from Media and other parts of his 
kingdom, and settled them in the wasted 
grounds of the Israelites. Then the prophecy 
became fully verified, and " Ephraim was broken 
so as not to be a people." And again, it has 
* Isa. xi. 14. f lb. vii. 8. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 135 

been objected by the same authority, that the 
prophecy which relates to Mahershalalhashbaz 
was not accomplished. The prophet announces 
that " before the child should have knowledge 
to cry, my father and my mother, the spoil of 
Samaria should be taken away before the king 
of Assyria."* The objector affirms, on the 
contrary, that Samaria was not taken and spoil- 
ed by the Assyrians until about eighteen years 
afterward, when the city was captured by that 
power. But he assumes that the conquest 
and pillage of the city are what the prophet 
means ; whereas the connected history in the 
second Book of the Kings shows clearly that 
his prediction relates to an early period of As- 
syrian aggressions, when many cities of the 
country of Samaria were seized by the eastern 
oppressor, foreboding, doubtless, that the time 
was not far distant, when the capital city itself 
should fall into the hands of the aggressive 
desolator.f The objector has erroneously sup- 
posed that the prophet is speaking of the city, 
whereas he refers to the calamities of the coun- 
try in general which preceded its conquest. 

Further, in order to explain rightly any par- 
ticular prophet, it is requisite to obtain as good 
a knowledge of his peculiar circumstances and 
those of his times as can be obtained. The rea- 
sonableness of this requisition is self-evident. 
Although the predictions of the future which 
* Isa. viii. 4. t Note XXVI. 



136 prophecy: 

the prophet announces are, indeed, altogether 
beyond his own natural unassisted powers, and 
communicated by the divine Spirit that ani- 
mates him, yet the form of the communication, 
the imagery in which it is clothed, the illustra- 
tions by means of which it is cleared up and 
impressed, the symbols employed to bring it 
the more graphically before the mind of the 
reader, and, in a word, everything of this sort, 
which may be considered as its garb and dress, 
depends upon the education, habits, associa- 
tions, feelings, and whole mental, intellectual, 
and spiritual character of the individual pro- 
phet, which must therefore be known and kept 
in view on various occasions. Both as a divine 
teacher of the true religion and as a seer to look 
into the ages to come, it is plain that the influ- 
ence by which he is guided is not destructive 
of his own powers, whether of native genius, 
or as strengthened by education. Consequently 
it leaves him in the free exercise of his imagi- 
nation, of his mental faculties, and natural feel- 
ings. These may be chastened and controlled 
by education, discipline, society, and various 
other causes ; or may run wild, as it would ap- 
pear to a cold western reader, in all the luxuri- 
ance of oriental nature, splendid in its seeming 
extravagance. The style of each is formed, as 
in other cases, by the usual circumstances, and 
therefore in some it is purer, or more senten- 
tious, or more ornate, or more sublime, than in 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 137 

others. The necessity of being brief prevents 
me from entering into any detail. Otherwise 
it would be easy to show, that the same general 
idea is expressed by one prophet in language 
drawn from the associations with which his own 
age had familiarized him, and from his civil 
or religions condition ; and by another in 
phraseology which is evidently the production 
of a different period and of very different in- 
fluences. In one also we may observe an ac- 
quaintance with the ways of the then cultivated 
and courtly society ; while another speaks the 
same general truths in the language of the 
plain good sense of one, who had mingled with 
his associates in the ordinary walks of life. 
The writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
Amos and Zechariah, supply abundant evidence 
of the truth and importance of this remark. 

Lastly, the competent expositor of prophecy 
must have taken a calm, unprejudiced, extend- 
ed, and truly philosophical, that is, intelligent 
and Christian view, of general history, and es- 
pecially of the history of the church, both be- 
fore and after the coming of Christ. 

By such a history of God's church, I do not 
mean a meagre outline of names and dates, de- 
termining the chronological and consecutive 
rise, progress and termination of characters 
and establishments, much less a detailed ac- 
count of schisms and heresies, of aggressions 
by powerful individuals or communities or 



138 prophecy: 

ranks, upon the rights and privileges and con- 
sciences of men, comprising the various perse- 
cutions and interminable quarrels connected 
therewith. I mean the general religious con- 
dition, both doctrinal and practical, in past 
ages, of the entire Christian commonwealth 
throughout the whole world, under all its diver- 
sified forms, aspects, relations and human-im- 
posed names ; not the history of a party or a 
sect, but a view of the spiritual state of the en- 
tire body of Christ wherever existing and in 
whatever circumstances, particularly as exer- 
cising its legitimate influence. Such a history, 
I mean, as seizes upon the living and operative 
reality of the church, moving in and acting on 
the surrounding world according to its condi- 
tion at any period ; such a one as develops the 
principles that govern it, the doctrines that char- 
acterize it, with the motives, influences, hopes and 
expectations, that propel it onward in its antag- 
onistic course of opposition against whatever 
would obstruct the free passage and unbounded 
influence of truth and righteousness. It is the 
church considered in this light that divine pro- 
phecy regards, and the expositor who would 
rightly interpret the prophetic promises and the 
predicted glories of the symbolized Zion, must 
rightly understand what aspects of that com- 
munity the ever-developing prophetic word con- 
tinually has in view as its leading and promi- 
nent and comprehensive topic. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 139 

II. I proceed to consider with suitable brev- 
ity the moral qualifications essential to the inter- 
preter of sacred prophecy. The remaining time 
will merely permit me to note them ; a full dis- 
cussion is impracticable. 

It is hardly necessary to say, that the first 
and most important of these requisites is a true 
religious character. This, of course, is essential 
to a proper and successful examination of any 
portion of God's "most holy word." But per- 
haps it is particularly so in reference to its pro- 
phetical parts. Here the mind should be espe- 
cially under the control of right influences, that 
its thoughts and reflections may be rightly 
directed, and in harmonious accord with the 
nature of that divine and holy One, whose pur- 
poses and their gradual developments it is the 
province of prophecy to unfold. The deeper 
the religious feeling of the expositor, the greater 
is the probability, other things being equal, that 
he will be under the guidance of the Spirit. It 
is the promise of the Master, " If any one will 
do his will he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of God." 

Indissolubly allied to this qualification is a 
firm conviction that the prophecies of the Old 
Testament are of divine origin. It is a very 
remarkable fact, and particularly exemplified 
during the last hundred years, that sacred 
Scripture has been, to an extensive degree, the 
subject of critical examination and most learn- 



140 prophecy: 

ed comment, by men who do not admit the first 
principles of revealed religion. Men whose 
philosophy denies the reality, and in some cases 
even the possibility, of miracle or inspiration, 
have devoted their lives to a critical and exeget- 
ical examination of that holy book, the authori- 
ty of which is based on these two principles, 
which the book itself everywhere avows and 
claims. The Bible is treated simply as a ven- 
erable record of remote antiquity, interesting 
and important in its bearing on the history and 
condition of man in past ages, and on their re- 
ligious, intellectual and social characteristics. 
Philological investigation is also one of the va- 
rious motives which have had influence in pro- 
ducing this anomaly. Learning, taste, genius 
and critical acumen, are often displayed in a 
very high degree by this class of commentators. 
But they deny that, properly speaking, the 
Bible is the word of God. They are willing to 
admit inspiration in some parts of its contents, 
but it is the inspiration of the poet or the orator 
or the genius, not that supernatural influence 
of the divine Guide which communicates truths 
that could not otherwise be discerned. Such an 
influence is denied as unphilosophical. JSTow it 
is very possible that expositors of this class may 
perceive and explain the true philological mean- 
ing of the words commented on ; but the very 
nature of their principles necessarily leads them 
to invent groundless theories inconsistent with 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 141 

fact, and must frequently warp their minds, and 
prevent them from catching the view of writers, 
with whose inward moral nature they have but 
little sympathy, and whose governing principle 
they repudiate. On the other hand, if the in- 
terpreter be imbued with the sentiment, that 
the predictions he is endeavoring to explain 
are really the productions of God's Holy Spirit, 
he must feel something of an awful conscious- 
ness of responsibility in the undertaking, some- 
what proportioned to the elevated character of 
the subjects which engage his attention. He is 
deeply impressed by the consideration that he 
is searching those oracles which " holy men of 
old spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." 

Another essential qualification in an interpre- 
ter of prophecy is a sacred regard to truth. It 
may seem quite superfluous to make so self-evi- 
dent a proposition the subject of a distinct state- 
ment. Truthfulness ought to enter into every- 
thing human. The whole conduct, the individual 
act, the every word and thought of an honorable 
man, are presumed to be suggested and moved 
by this main-spring of moral life. General 
opinion has agreed to proscribe the unworthy 
person who does not scorn to lie. And yet, 
such is the influence of passion, prejudice, long- 
cherished opinion, early education, local asso- 
ciations and external influences, that not a few 
even of good men succumb to their power, and 



142 peophect: 

consciously or unconsciously are led by their 
soft yet irresistible sway, to modify, at least, if 
not to keep back or misrepresent their convic- 
tions. We have only to observe the versatility 
of profession and views, which in various ages 
has characterized men distinguished in the his- 
tory of the church, to perceive the truth of this. 
Steadiness, consistency, perseverance in main- 
taining one's settled principles in spite of all 
temptation to the contrary, are virtues of no 
ordinary grade, traits of character which it is 
much easier to admire than to cultivate. A sa- 
cred regard to truth comprises thorough honesty 
of purpose. The interpreter who is really gov- 
erned by this principle, and therefore sets the 
truth always before him, experiences that she 
is at his right hand. He is not moved by in- 
terest, personal feeling, the demands of party, 
or any similar influence. He feels that he has 
" a great work" to do, and, like the patriotic 
and noble-minded Nehemiah, he " cannot come 
down."* There is something in the conscious- 
ness of being governed altogether by right mo- 
tives, and of being right also in the view taken 
and in the reasoning and illustration which are 
to support it, which makes a man independent 
of everything without him, and raises him above 
the influence of interest, authority, private 
friendship, or anything but the truth, the sa- 
cred, inviolable truth. In more senses than 
* Neh. vi. 3. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 143 

one are the golden words of our Lord most 
memorable : " the truth shall make you 

FREE."* 

If, now, the interpreter of the prophetic word 
is rightly under the influence of the principle 
stated, he will readily admit that candor in 
acknowledging the results already gained, is 
another requisite. Truth, although, like law, 
its original seat is the bosom of God, whence it 
first emanates, is nevertheless in its progress 
among men frequently and greatly impeded, 
and consequently is slow in its advances. The 
requisite just mentioned presumes in the inter-- 
preter a conviction of the truth and practical 
importance of those before stated, and a belief 
that under their influence, somewhat of the 
divine mind, imbodied in the prophetic word, 
has been clearly ascertained. The principle, 
therefore, calls upon the interpreter not to lay 
again the foundation already settled, much les? 
to weaken or undermine it in order to prepare 
the ground for some other, but rather to go 01 
to perfection, endeavoring to develop more fully 
the nature and meaning of truths into which 
" angels desire to look." 

But, after all, it is a melancholy fact, that a 
man's most devoted efforts, though directed in 
accordance with, and under the influence of 
the intellectual and moral principles before 
stated, and though resulting in the development 
* John viii. 32. 



144 prophecy: 

and illustration of inspired truth, are notwith- 
standing often despised and neglected. The 
interpreter must therefore endeavor to maintain 
as far as possible a temper of mind, which may 
enable him to disregard the sneers of the igno- 
rant and malicious, and which may also furnish 
him with fortitude and patience to bear the 
censures and accusations of the uninformed yet 
well-meaning children of prejudice, and, what 
is still more difficult to a sensitive mind, the 
neglect of those who might be expected to feel 
interest in the subject, and in sincere efforts to 
illustrate it. All this he must look for as a 
necessary consequence of our present imperfect 
condition. Little-minded men — men who can- 
not think except under the influence of some 
long-cherished system, who all their life-time 
have habituated themselves to look at intellec- 
tual and religious topics merely in one dim 
light ; men who are one-sided, neither knowing 
nor caring what can be objected to the system 
which they have been brought up in, — can 
hardly be expected to be in a condition rightly 
to appreciate such efforts and results as those 
under consideration. But the indifference, or 
even the prejudiced opposition of such men, 
must not influence the resolution of the honest 
interpreter. It is his province to ascertain and 
to announce the truth. The purity of his in- 
tention, and the nobleness of his object, must 
be to him the substitute for every other species 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 145 

of encouragement. Thus sustained, he must 
proceed in the pathway of truth, confidently 
believing that sooner or later prejudice and 
ignorance will yield to its sway. Magna est 

VERITAS ET PR^VALEBIT. 

And this consideration leads me to remark, 
lastly, that the interpreter of sacred prophecy 
must, above all things, cherish a desire to ad- 
vance the glory of God, by contributing to 
throw light upon his holy word. The bare 
statement of the necessity of this moral qualifi- 
cation, is sufficient. It requires no proof, as no 
man of reflection can think of controverting it. 
It is the rule of Scripture, that whatever we do 
must be done to the glory of God. And if this 
governing principle extends to the less serious 
actions of life, much rather must it apply to so 
important an effort as that under consideration. 
Beware, then, not to suffer any lower principle 
to influence your minds in the examination of 
God's prophetic word. Be not governed by 
any personal consideration, by any wish to 
strengthen a favorite tenet, though it be true 
and orthodox, though it be even a part of the 
very foundation of divinely revealed doctrines. 
As " the wrath of man worketh not the right- 
eousness of God," so neither can the deduction 
of the most important truth, by illegitimate 
means, or from premises that do not warrant 
such result, advance the glory of Him whose 
very being is infinite and unmingled verity. 
13 



146 prophecy: 

Who, then, is sufficient for these things ? If 
such intellectual and moral qualifications are 
essential in order to fit one for interpreting 
rightly the whole body of Scriptural prophecy, 
how few comparatively are fully competent to 
the task ! An able professor of Sacred Litera- 
ture, in a discourse marked by sound discrimi- 
nation and learning, has employed the following 
language : "In enumerating the intellectual 
qualifications necessary, I have perhaps con- 
vinced you, that it is impossible to be a theolo- 
gian. In the highest and most comprehensive 
sense of the word, I do not know but it may be 
so. I shall have done some service, if I have 
convinced you, that it is no easy thing to ac- 
quire those qualifications which a theologian, 
in the more popular sense of the word, may be 
expected to possess."* The remark is pecu- 
liarly applicable to prophetic interpretation. If 
I have succeeded in showing you that certainly 
no trifling amount of intellectual and moral 
preparation is required to qualify for such an 
undertaking, my efforts will not have been use- 
less. 

Two good results will follow. First, you will 
have learned that the great mass of so-called 
expositors of prophecy are incompetent guides, 
and therefore that you ought not to rely on 

* Inaugural Discourse, delivered before the University in 
Cambridge, Aug. 10, 1819. By Andrews Norton, Dexter 
Professor of Sacred Literature. P. 37. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERPRETER. 147 

them with implicit confidence. Secondly, you 
will have learned to "be swift to hear," yet 
"slow to speak," in view of God's purposes, 
and the revelations of them ; to be quiet, 
patient, thoughtful, submissive ; yea, to be 
even timid, childlike, overwhelmed with aw- 
ful reverence, thankful for what knowledge 
he may be pleased to impart, and faithfully 
trusting his wisdom and goodness in regard to 
those secret things which lie deep yet secure 
in the profound immensity of his infinite be- 
nevolence. And, when you shall have thor- 
oughly learned these priceless lessons, you will 
have acquired something of that wisdom which 
the wisest of men so often eulogizes and incul- 
cates ; that wisdom, which one of the wisest of 
uninspired men most beautifully and most poet- 
ically describes in the following simple yet 
sublime diction : " She is the breath of the 
power of God, and the pure effiuence of the 
Almighty's glory ; therefore can no defiled 
thing fall into her. For she is the ray of eter- 
nal light, and the unspotted mirror of the power 
of God, and the image of his goodness. In all 
ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them 
friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth 
none but him that dwelleth with wisdom. For 
she is more beautiful than the sun, and above 
all the order of the stars ; compared with the 
light, she is found to be superior."* 

* Wisdom of Solomon, vii. 25-29. 



DISCOURSE VIII. 

JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 

God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents 
of Shem.— Gen. ix. 27. 

The prophecy of Noah, with its connected 
circumstances, suggests considerations of much 
interest and importance. The narrative relates 
that the patriarch had become intoxicated, and 
in this condition was discovered by one of his 
children indecently exposed. Instead of con- 
cealing the unhappy result of a parent's weak- 
ness, he improperly and irreverently informed 
his brothers, who acted with pious and filial 
regard towards their unfortunate and erring 
parent. Roused from the deep sleep of his in- 
temperate indulgence, and informed of the re- 
spective conduct of his sons, the aged man 
invokes a blessing on the two, and predicts the 
inferior condition of the other. It is hardly 
necessary to remark that, in accordance with 
general prophetic usage, the posterity of his 
sons are intended by the inspired father. 
When, therefore, in denouncing a curse on the 
descendants of Ham, he designates them in the 



JAPHETH IN" THE TENTS OF SHEM. 149 

line of Ham's own son, the prediction is the 
same as it would have been had he employed 
the father's name. And most probably that of 
his son Canaan was substituted, with the view 
of encouraging the chosen people in their di- 
vinely directed efforts to conquer and expel the 
Canaanites. 

The curse denounced is not only introduced 
separately, but also in connection with the 
blessing invoked and promised to the other 
brother. " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of 
servants shall he be unto his brethren. Blessed 
be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall 
be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and 
he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Ca- 
naan shall be his servant." 

It is worthy of note that the sacred historian 
relates this blemish in the character of the sec- 
ond father of the human race, without a single 
word of comment. To infer that therefore he 
did not regard it as censurable, would be alto- 
gether unwarranted, and utterly at variance 
with correct views of the characteristics, of 
sacred history. He does not scruple to re- 
late the faults of his most eminent personages ; 
thus presenting a warning to all subsequent 
ages, and also a proof that his statements may 
be implicitly relied on. 

But are these words of Noah predictive ? 
And if so, does the Spirit of God rest upon 
an intemperate man ? While we are cer- 
13* 



150 prophecy: 

tain that we must answer the former ques- 
tion in the affirmative, the latter admits of 
no other than a negative reply. It is impossi- 
ble to prove that Noah was an intemperate 
man. The narrative confines itself simply to 
one act, and we rightly incur the charge of 
" bearing false witness," if we presume to add 
thereto. The connection in which this one act 
is introduced, seems also to justify the conclu- 
sion, that it stood alone in the life of that 
" preacher of righteousness," of whom we read 
that he " walked with God." It is said that he 
" began to be a husbandman, and planted a 
vineyard." Inconsiderately, as it would seem, 
and probably ignorant of the natural effects, 
"he drank of the wine, and was drunken." 
This precedes the statement already made. 
Then follows the prophetic announcement. It 
would be incongruous in the highest degree to 
suppose that habitual intemperance could be 
introduced or implied in such association. All 
seems evidently to intimate that the fact re- 
ferred to was not indicative of character, but 
merely an incidental circumstance, and unex- 
pected by the venerable man himself. The 
divine historian, elevated above all apprehen- 
sion of calumnious impertinence, trusts to the 
gradual yet certain influence of truth, confident 
that his honest readers will draw no conclusion 
from one isolated fact, contradictory to what 
must necessarily be drawn from those general 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 151 

representations, which, appear with luminous 
perspicuity in every page of his instructive 
narration. 

I propose, in the present discourse, to exam- 
ine the prophecy respecting Japheth; to con- 
firm its meaning by some other prophetic 
illustrations ; and to draw from the subject 
some practical inferences. 

I. " God shall enlarge Japheth." It is not 
unusual for the Hebrew prophets to utter their 
predictions in language which manifestly al- 
ludes to the meaning of the name by which the 
prominent party is designated. Those who are 
acquainted with the original will immediately 
perceive the allusion, which of course must 
escape the notice of the uninformed reader. 
The very first declaration of Jacob's prophetic 
eulogy on Judah, will immediately occur to the 
mind of every reader of the Hebrew Bible, as 
a sufficient proof and apt illustration of the 
remark. And it applies to the passage before 
us, although it is impossible so to translate it 
as to make this evident to the merely English 
reader. Taking the term in one form of the 
Hebrew verb, some have translated it thus : 
' God shall entice, or allure Japheth, so that he 
shall dwell in the tents of Shem.' But this is 
a low sense of the promise, not in accordance 
with the dignity of the subject. Neither does 
it contain any allusion to the historical fact of 
the prodigious number and widely extended 



152 prophecy: 

settlement of Japheth 's posterity. The most 
ancient and general authority, and that which 
is deservedly regarded as entitled to the high- 
est consideration, unites in supporting the sense 
of the word as given in our English translation, 
"God shall enlarge Japheth." This meaning 
agrees best with the grammatical form of the 
expression, and also with the real fact. The 
descendants of Japheth have spread themselves 
over all Europe and America. They have ef- 
fected settlements of vast and daily increasing 
extent, power and influence, in many parts of 
Asia and Africa. " History is the interpreter 
of prophecy," in the well-authenticated fact 
that God hath enlarged Japheth. 

But what is the meaning of the next clause 
of the prediction ? " He shall dwell in the tents 
ofShem." 

Shem was the father of the great body of the 
Asiatic nations. They are his lineal descend- 
ants, who spread themselves over the Eastern 
quarter of the world. Greeks, and more west- 
ern people of the line of Japheth, often success- 
fully invaded the posterity of their ancestor's 
brother, conquered their territories, drove away 
or subjected the inhabitants, and lorded it over 
the oppressed children of Noah's eldest* son. 
On these grounds, and others of a similar kind, 
the prophecy has been thought to mean simply 
this : that God would so enlarge Japheth, that 
* Note XXVII. 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OP SHEM. 153 

he should, in course of time, even prevail in a 
very considerable degree over Shem, whose 
posterity should succumb to the more enterpris- 
ing and more widely extended descendants of 
his brother, in this particular more highly 
favored. But this view of the prediction lies 
open to an objection not easily removed. Is it 
credible that, after recognizing Jehovah as the 
God of Shem, and blessing him as such, which 
implies also a corresponding blessing on Shem 
himself, the inspired father would immediately 
add a clause predictive of opposition between 
the two races, and partial overturning of the 
one just blessed in so remarkable a manner, in 
order to make way for the wide dissemination 
and permanent settlement of the other ? Does 
the prophecy in relation to Japheth so chill the 
predicted blessing which had just been poured 
warm upon the head of Shem ? This is not prob- 
able. We must find a sense of prophecy 
which agrees not only with the historical facts, 
not only with the legitimate meaning of the 
words, but also with its own nature as known 
by analogy, in consistency, too, with the char- 
acter and operations of its author. For these 
reasons we cannot admit this to be the patri- 
arch's meaning. 

Let us glance at another exposition. Shem 
was the ancestor of Abraham, and therefore of 
the favored and holy seed. With this fact in 
view some commentators have so explained the 









154: prophecy: 

passage as to make it in reality nothing but a 
continuation and development of the blessing 
pronounced on Shem. They paraphrase it 
thus : ' God shall indeed enlarge Japheth ; his 
numerous progeny shall extend over a large 
portion of the earth ; but still He shall dwell in 
the tents of Shem ; He shall take up his abode 
among the descendants of Abraham ; Israel 
shall be His habitation, Zion His resting-place, 
where He shall dwell forever ; Jehovah shall 
be their God, and they shall be His people.' 

And is this the blessing of Japheth ? Here 
are numerous posterity, extent of possessions, 
wide supremacy of dominion, worldly honor 
and dignity of the highest kind, rank and dis- 
tinction among the nations of the earth. But 
all are without God ; all without the divine 
presence ! And what are the riches of the 
world — what are the splendid palaces of the 
wealthy, with all their gorgeous and expensive 
furniture and decorations — what are the trap- 
pings of royalty — what the honors of distinction 
. — what " all the kingdoms of the world, and 
the glories of them" — if all must be held on 
the condition of separation from the only source 
of happiness? The blessing of Japheth com- 
pels him to march forward in the world, ex- 
tending almost without limit ; but always and 
everywhere obliged to see in his favored broth- 
er's descendants, the "little flock" of the spir- 
itual fold, the covenant people of Jehovah, the 
9 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 155 

beloved children of the heavenly kingdom, the 
holy church of the living God ! And where is 
the blessing of such a benediction ? The fuller 
the blessing, the wider, and deeper, and more 
withering the curse ! To have the whole world, 
and to be without God, is but the mockery of a 
blessing. This was felt to be true even by the 
miserable Cain. The first murderer, the fratri- 
cide, for whom language affords no suitable 
epithet, vents the feelings of his horrors, when, 
in declaring that his " punishment is greater 
than he can bear," he utters the memorable 
words, " from thy face shall I be hid !"-. Eo, 
my brethren, this view of Japheth's blessing 
needs no examination. Criticism might set it 
aside on several grounds. It might be shown 
that the term Ja/pheth may be the grammatical 
subject of the verb, just as naturally* as the 
phrase Lord God ; and also that the blessing 
in each of the two verses most naturally relates 
wholly to one of the brothers. But it is un- 
necessary to enter into any detail. It is impos- 
sible that that can be the true meaning which 
divinely promises a Messing, and with a Satanic 
smile blasts with the deepest curse. 

The blessing pledged to Japheth is undoubted- 
ly that of numerous progeny to be widely dis- 
seminated over immense regions of the earth. 
This the words assert, and this the facts attest. 
Rapidly spreading themselves on all sides, the 
* See Deut, xxxiv. 20. Ps. cxxviii. 5. 



156 prophecy: 

descendants of Japheth shall live in connection 
with those of Shem. The prophecy does not 
declare that the former shall conquer and expel 
or extirpate the latter, however true it may be 
that this was sometimes the fact. The language 
equally admits the interpretation which repre- 
sents them as dwelling in harmonious and fra- 
ternal union, peaceably and mutually assisting 
in their domestic and other avocations. This 
is doubtless the general thought : ' Japheth's 
children shall intermingle with those of his 
brother Shem, and both shall dwell together in 
unity.' 

But the principal point in which this unity is 
to consist, is certainly of a religious character. 
This, which is in itself wholly reasonable, seems 
to be suggested by the intimate association of 
this part of the prophecy with that which pre- 
cedes. The patriarch had just invoked a bless- 
ing on Shem, recognizing Jehovah as his God. 
When, therefore, he immediately says of Ja- 
pheth, that he shall dwell in his brother's habi- 
tation, he very plainly intimates that, thus con- 
nected, the religious privileges of the two should 
be identical ; that their descendants should be- 
come united in the same covenant relation with 
Jehovah, the God of both ; and that they should 
equally be citizens of that heavenly country 
alike desired by all the faithful. The predic- 
tion that flows from the lips of Noah announces 
that in due time Japheth's posterity shall be- 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 157 

come members of that " one household of faith" 
which was founded by the selection of a part 
of " Abraham's seed" to be the chosen people ; 
that Jews and Gentiles shall be associated to- 
gether to constitute the one Israel of God. The 
Chaldee Targum of Jonathan, a most venerable 
and important Jewish testimony, gives us in 
brief language the same view : " His children 
shall become proselytes, and they shall dwell in 
the school of Shem."* 

II. Let us now inquire whether the predic- 
tion thus elicited from the words of Noah is 
confirmed by other representations of holy 
Scripture. 

The reader of the sacred oracles will find no 
difficulty in deciding this question in the affir- 
mative. With more or less of clearness, pro- 
phecy to this effect pervades the whole Bible. 
Nothing less can possibly be meant by the di- 
vine promise made to Abraham, "In thee shall 
all the families" — and again, with somewhat 
more particularity, u In thy seed shall all the 
nations of the earth be blessed." Here the re- 
ligious union and benediction, which was prom- 
ised by Noah to his two sons, is so extended as 
to comprehend the posterity of the whole three. 
And so also in the last words of Jacob, u the 
gathering," or " obedience of the people," that 
is, 'the nations,' is promised to the authority 
that was to come through the line of Judah. 

* Note XXVIII. 
14 



158 prophecy: 

The Book of Deuteronomy and the Psalms 
abound with exulting declarations to the same 
effect, most appositely quoted by St. Paul in his 
epistle to the Romans :* " Rejoice, ye Gentiles, 
with his people ; — for this cause I will confess 
unto thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy 
name." 

But the allusions to this subject which occur 
in several of the Psalms are too striking to be 
passed over with merely a general remark. 
Let us note a few. The second celebrates the 
glory of King Messiah, " set upon God's holy 
hill of Zion," with the promise also that " the 
heathen shall be his inheritance and the utter- 
most parts of the earth his possession." " Kings 
and judges" are earnestly exhorted to receive 
hiin.f In the 18th, the monarch of Israel 
praises God for great deliverances, and avows 
his determination to "give thanks unto the 
Lord among the heathen," of whom, says 
he, " thou hast made me the head.";}; In the 
22d it is said, that " all the ends of the world 
shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all 
the kindreds of the nations shall worship before 
him."§ In the 68th, " Egypt, Ethiopia, all the 
kingdoms of the earth" are prophetically called 
on to "sing praises unto the Lord."] The 72d 
predicts the general extension of Messiah's 

* Rom. xv. 10, 9. f Ps- "• 6, 8, 10. 

\ Ps. xviii. 49, 43. \ Ps. xxii. 27. 

|| Ps. lxviii. 31, 32. 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 159 

kingdom even to " the ends of the earth," and 
declares that " all nations shall call him bless- 
ed."* In the 102d the restoration of Zion by 
Jehovah, and the fear of him by the heathen, 
are associated predictions. Ail the declarations 
and all the intimations of this religious union 
and harmony are so many developments of the 
promise announced by the second father of the 
great family of mankind, that " God should en- 
large Japheth, and that he should dwell in the 
tents of Shem." 

This interesting and important purpose of 
God is displayed clearly in the Psalms, and 
with increasing brightness in the subsequent 
prophets. The shortness of our remaining time 
compels me to limit its illustration more than 
would otherwise be desirable. 

To begin with the very prince of the Hebrew 
prophets. What else than the religious com- 
munion of Noah's two sons with their elderf 
brother Shem, " saw" the son of Amoz, " when 
he beheld many people, all nations, flowing 
unto the house of the Lord, the God of Jacob," 
to be taught "his ways and to walk in his 
paths V^X This also is what the prophet means 
w T hen he promises that "the Lord of hosts will 
make unto all people a feast, "§ when he speaks 
of the Messiah as "a light of the Gentiles,"] 
the author of "salvation unto the end of the 

* Ps. lxxii. 8, 17. f See Note XXVII. \ Isa.ii. 1-3. 
6 Isa. xxv. 6. II Isa. xlii. 6. 



160 peophect: 

earth."* In accordance with this same truth, he 
promises " the sons of the stranger that join 
themselves unto the Lord," that they shall be 
brought to God's "holy mountain, and made 
joyful in his house of prayer," when " the 
Lord God will gather others to Israel beside 
those that are gathered to him."f Animated by 
the same feeling of true benevolence, he tells 
the chosen people that their " seed shall inherit 
the Gentiles.";): Other prophets employ the 
same language. Thus Amos speaks of the res- 
toration of God's ancient people: "That they 
may possess" (or inherit, for the original word 
is the same,) " the remnant of Edom, and of all 
the heathen which are called by the Lord's 
name."§ "What is the meaning of inheriting, 
possessing the nations? Does it import the 
conquest, devastation, subjugation of Gentiles 
to Jews ? Do the Evangelical proclaimers of 
" peace on earth and good-will to men," foretell 
the approach of that blessed period, when the 
ancient people of God shall bathe their swords 
up to the very hilts in the blood of their ene- 
mies, those Edomites and Moabites and Ish- 
maelites, and the savage Gog and Magog, Scy- 
thian and unknown tribes of ruthless warriors ? 
Is it thus that the descendants of the pious and 
filial Shem and Japheth are to dwell together 
within the same tents ? Is this murderous hos- 

* Isa. xlix. 6. f Isa. lvi. 7, 8. 

X Isa. liv. 3. \ Amos ix. 12. 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 161 

tilitj to mark the fulfilment of the most ancient 
and most gracious of promises ? God forbid ! 
O no, this cannot "be ! JSTo interpretation can 
•possibly be true which outrages the natural 
feelings of the heart. The implanter of human 
affections cannot deny himself. Since truth 
cannot contradict truth, we may be sure that 
such an exposition is radically wrong. JSTot 
thus did the holy prophet expect the seed of 
God's people to inherit the Gentiles. Let rather 
the equally holy apostle James,* be our authori- 
tative interpreter. He teaches us that the union 
of Gentiles with Jews, in the one church of 
Christ, then begun to be established, is the 
prophet's meaning; represented indeed under 
a figure, but a figure equally natural and intelli- 
gible.f When the prophets speak of their breth- 
ren inheriting others, they intend to denote an 
incorporation with them as previously in posses- 
sion, and the phrase implies benefit on the part 
of those thus incorporated. God's people are 
represented as taking possession of their con- 
verts, who thereby become closely united with 
them. In other words, what the prophets pre- 
dict is exactly what the Apostle Paul explains, 
when he compares the Gentile converts to slips 
of a wild olive that had been inserted into the 
natural good tree ; nor with the view of introdu- 
cing into the uncontaminated plant antagonistic 
and poisonous juices, nor, on the other hand, 

* Acts xv. 13-17. f Note XXIX. 

14* 



162 prophecy: 

of receiving therefrom repulsive and destructive 
influences ; but to partake of the richness and 
fatness of the genuine old olive, to honor it for 
its support, and at the same time to strengthen' 
its own growth and permanency, by a proper 
dependence, submission and faith. 

Omitting a multitude of prophecies which 
might be adduced in support of the view un- 
der consideration, there is one passage in Isaiah 
so peculiarly striking, that I must, in conclusion, 
bring it most particularly to your notice. Like 
much of the language of the prophets in gene- 
ral, and especially of Isaiah, it is figurative, 
and the figures are drawn from the great event 
in the political and religious history of their an- 
cestors, the deliverance from Egyptian bon- 
dage, the passage through the desert, and the 
settlement in the land of Canaan. The prophet 
is speaking of the times of the Messiah. Like 
his prophetic brethren in general, he views them 
not in separate parts, chronologically distin- 
guished, but in one great whole, the connection 
and continuity of each particular being marked 
by its nature and character, and not merely or 
chiefly by its proximity to the next in order 
mentioned. " In that day shall there be a high- 
way out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian 
shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into 
Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the 
Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the 
third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 163 

blessing in the midst of the land (or earth). 
Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 
blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the 
work of my hands, and Israel my inheri- 
tance."* 

How instructive is this language of the no- 
ble-minded prophet. How wholly inconsistent 
is its sentiment with that miserable Jewish bias, 
of which even the Apostle Peter could not easily 
rid himself, which clings to the contracted opin- 
ion, that it is "an unlawful thing for a man 
that is a Jew to keep company or come unto 
one of another nation !"f How equally incon- 
sistent with that less pardonable littleness of 
some narrow-minded Christians, who cannot 
bear to see any " casting out demons in the 
name of Christ and following not" them ! 
They are either apprehensive of contamination, 
or fearful of acknowledging any degree of fra- 
ternity. And, my brethren, what a glorious 
trait does the so graphical stroke of the heaven- 
dipped pencil give us of the universality of this 
harmonious condition; when Israel's powerful 
and implacable enemy on the North and East, 
and Israel's great, inveterate and most ancient 
enemy on the South, fittest types of all Israel's 
enemies, shall associate in easy and most inti- 
mate connection with the once enslaved and 
slavish race, the people long hated, abused and 
injured ! What a glorious view does it give us of 
* Isa. xix. 23-25. f Acts x. 28. 



164: prophecy: 

that period, when " Israel'shall be a blessing in 
the midst of the earth !" What a glorious view 
of the time (God hasten it in its day !) when 
Jehovah of hosts, the covenant God of Israel, 
shall favor with paternal benediction the repent- 
ant and believing opposers of his chosen, and 
shall say, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and 
Assyria the work of my hands, with Israel mine 
inheritance !" 

And now, in the light of these prophecies, to 
which multitudes of others of the same sort 
might easily be added, let us look at the facts 
of the case as developed in the Gospel and its 
history. Do they afford any evidence that Ja- 
pheth has in. some degree been dwelling in the 
tents of Shem? Do they show that this har- 
monious and religious incorporation and union 
has been formed, has grown and is still grow- 
ing ? "What says the holy word ? What says 
the incontrovertible fact ? 

Soon after the birth of Christ, the venerable 
wise men wended their course from the East, 
and adored in Bethlehem the infant spiritual 
Prince of the universe. Thus was he first 
manifested to the Gentiles, although indeed 
they were not of the race of Japheth. The 
faith of the Syro-Phoenician mother, of the 
centurion master, of the Syrians, in whose land 
the fame of Jesus had spread, and who brought 
their sick to be cured by him, are all illustra- 
tions of this predicted union. The conversion 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 165 

of Cornelius, of the Ethiopian eunuch, and the 
reception of the gospel by the nations in vari- 
ous parts of the world, through the instrumen- 
tality of the apostles ; the formation of churches 
consisting of Jews and Gentiles, narrated in 
the Acts of the Apostles and other authentic 
histories of the early propagation of Christian- 
ity, and referred to in the Apostolic letters ; are 
so many indications that " the middle wall of 
partition," which had so long separated the 
posterity of one patriarch from those of an- 
other, and perpetuated mutual hostility, had at 
last been broken down, and that all, however 
diversified and widely separated, had become 
one in Christ Jesus. An examination into the 
early planting of the Gospel shows most conclu- 
sively that the first formed Christian churches 
were composed chiefly of Jewish converts, to 
whom accessions were made from among the 
Gentiles, until at length the latter predominated. 
The sons of Japheth dwelt with the sons of 
Shem. They even adopted many of the old 
family usages. In a multitude of instances, 
ecclesiastical regulations and forms of divine 
service, originally Hebrew, and therefore of 
Shemitic production and growth, were incorpo- 
rated into their newly-formed religious com- 
munities by the descendants of Japheth. It 
ought never to be forgotten, that the number 
of Jewish and Israelitish conversions in the 
first century was immense. Thus the newly- 



166 prophecy: 

founded Gentile body was taken into the old 
Israelitish inheritance. And thus the original 
covenant people became the trunk or root that 
supported and invigorated the lately sprouting 
branches. Japheth and Shem have intertwined 
together to form that figurative mustard-tree of 
the great Teacher, whose body serves to sus- 
tain, and whose foliage to comfort and refresh. 
Following the current of events, we see in 
the progress of Christianity great masses of 
Japheth's children "flowing" on to the Chris- 
tian Zion, "the mountain of the Lord's house," 
and becoming incorporated with that holy body 
which had before been formed by the ancient 
covenant people who inherited the Gentiles. 
Gradually all Europe became converted to the 
faith of Christ, and dwelt peaceably and happily 
in those tents which had first been pitched, 
under divine direction, by the children of 
Shem. It is indeed much to be deplored, that 
the natural descendants of ancestors who had 
long lived in those tents, deserted the spiritual 
abode of their faithful progenitors, and sought 
out for themselves other habitations, cheerless 
and without comfort, hating and calumniating 
the more lately settled residents. No less is it 
to be deplored, that many of these persecuted 
and abused the natural descendants. And 
thus, most unhappily, it resulted, that the tents 
of Shem have been occupied chiefly by the 
progeny of Japheth. But a better state of 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 167 

things is beginning to take place. The con- 
versions of the last thirty years in Asia and the 
South Sea Islands, and the efforts now making 
in various parts of the Eastern world, serve to 
show, that he who inspired the patriarch will 
not forget to accomplish the prophecy in full. 
And we are encouraged to believe that the 
time is coming, when " the veil shall be taken 
away from the heart" of the old covenant peo- 
ple ; when Israel shall be roused to emulation 
of the blessed condition of their Gentile breth- 
ren, and with joyous exultation, intermingled 
too with mourning at the spiritual sight of "him 
whom they have pierced," shall "kiss the Son," 
whom they have so long rejected ; when "the 
Redeemer shall come to Zion, and shall turn 
away iniquity from Jacob, and thus all Israel 
shall be saved." And what shall this be, "but 
life from the dead." 

According to the plan proposed in the outset 
of this discourse, I ought now to consider the 
subject in its practical bearings. But the time 
already occupied forbids me to enlarge. In 
conclusion, then, let me ask, have you any sat- 
isfaction in indulging faith in the view which 
has been presented to you, so far as it may ac- 
cord with God's holy word ? If you have not, 
it is no breach of charity to say, that you can- 
not have the mind of the holy prophets and 
apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
But, if you have satisfaction in so hoping and 



168 prophecy: 

so believing; if your hearts do "burn within 
you," when you meditate on God's ancient 
promises to the "preacher of righteousness," 
and of the disjxlays of it made in the later pro- 
phetic testimonies ; then let the conclusion of 
your understanding, of your will, of your whole 
selves, be this — that, by the help of the God of 
Noah, you will give your aid in carrying out 
his gracious purpose, by a thorough devotion 
of yourselves to his service. I do not ask you 
to decide where, and under what circumstances, 
you will exercise your ministry in aiming at 
the glory of your Redeemer. That you ought 
to leave to his all-wise Providence. I merely 
ask you to resolve on this : that, wheresoever 
your future lot may be cast, whether here or 
elsewhere in our own country, or in remote 
lands of heathen ignorance, you will maintain 
one settled purpose, to do, by divine grace, all 
that may be in your power to advance the glory 
of God in the salvation of men. This is evi- 
dently the duty of all Christians, and specially 
of those who devote themselves to the sacred 
ministry. Pray, then, for this consummation. 
Pray the prayer that your Lord and Master 
hath taught, " thy kingdom come." Here you 
may ask in faith, confident that he heareth 
you, because the object of your prayer is in 
full accordance with his will. Give, then, for 
this consummation. Give of your property to 
advance the progress of God's kingdom both in 



JAPHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 169 

the church and in the world, that Japheth may 
dwell in the tents of Shem, and both embrace 
with fraternal affection the long outcast family 
of Ham. Live and act for this consummation. 
Promote the interests of religion in your own 
domestic circle, your own immediate vicinity ; 
and, by the influence of your example, "let 
your light so shine before men, that they may 
see your good works, and glorify your Father 
which is in heaven." 

15 



NOTES. 



Note I. — Page 2. 

A very complete view of these allusions and quotations 
is given in the Prolegomena to this Epistle of David Ju- 
lius Pott, pp. 173-176. It may be found in the Novum 
Testamentum Greece perpetua annotatione illustratum ; Edi- 
tionis Koppianae, vol. ix. Gottingae, 1810. 

Note II. — Page 2. 

The 16th verse refers, most probably, to Christ's second 
advent. This interpretation agrees best with the expression 
11 power and coming," which is equivalent to his powerful 
coming, and is in contradistinction to his state of humilia- 
tion while on earth. Compare Rom. i. 4, " the Son of God 
in power" It suits also the only other places in which the 
word occurs in St. Peter's Epistles, iii. 4, 12, " where is the 
promise of his coming ? — the coming of the day of God,'* 
when Christ shall appear in glory. 

Note III.— Page 9. 

The discourse alludes more particularly to the view of 
the celebrated Dr. Arnold, whose remarks on prophecy 
are characterized by the good sense and acuteness of his 
well-disciplined mind. " History is especially Ma BriAwews 
(' of private interpretation :') that is to say, what the histo- 
rian relates of Babylon, is to be understood of Babylon 



172 NOTES. 

only ; of the city so called on the banks of the Euphrates, 
and not of any other place more or less morally resembling" 
it. But what Prophecy says of Babylon is koivtjs imXvacojs 
(of general interpretation :) it does not relate exclusively, 
nor even principally, to the Babylon of History; but to cer- 
tain spiritual evils of which Babylon was at one period the 
representative, and Rome at another, and of which other 
cities which may have succeeded to the greatness of Baby- 
lon and Rome, may be the representatives now. And thus 
the Babylon of History is only for a limited time, and in 
an imperfect degree, the Babylon of Prophecy. It is so for 
a limited time only, because the historical Babylon has long 
since perished ; but the Prophecies in the Old Testament 
against it have been repeated in the New, almost in the 
very same words; so that the prophetical Babylon must 
have been in existence long after the historical Babylon 
had been destroyed. And only in an imperfect degree, be- 
cause the language used respecting it is the exact opposite 
to that used with respect to Jerusalem ; and as the histori- 
cal Jerusalem never came up to the pictures of the holiness 
and happiness of the prophetical Jerusalem, so neither have 
we any reason to believe that there was any such peculiar 
and unmixed wickedness in the historical Babylon, as to 
make it the proper and ultimate subject of the denuncia- 
tions uttered against the Babylon of Prophecy. Not the 
proper and ultimate subject, but the subject of them par- 
tially and in the first instance ; as Rome was partially, 
also, in the second instance ; and as other places may be, 
and I believe are, in the third instance : so that the prophe- 
cies, as I believe, will go on continually meeting with a 
typical and imperfect fulfilment till the time of the end; 
when they will be fulfilled finally and completely in the de- 
struction of the true prophetical Babylon, the World as op- 
posed to the Church. I wish it to be remembered, that I 
am by no means denying the literal and historical sense of 
the Prophecies relating to different cities or nations, but 



NOTES. 173 

only contending that the historical sense is not the highest 
sense : and that generally the language of the Prophecy 
will be found to be hyperbolical as far as regards its his- 
torical subjects, and only corresponding with the truth ex- 
actly, if we substitute for the historical subject the idea of 
which it is the representative. Babylon, in the Prophecies 
of the Old Testament, means undoubtedly the city so called 
in Mesopotamia; Amalek means the historical Amalek; 
Edom or Mount Seir signifies the historical people of 
Edom. And as it was a great blessing to belong to the 
Israel of History, because she was chosen to represent the 
idea of God's true people, so it was a great calamity to be- 
long to the historical Babylon or Amalek or Edom, be- 
cause they had certain points in them which made them be 
chosen to represent under its various forms the idea of 
God's enemies. But in neither case, was the representa- 
tive or symbol of the idea the full and adequate expression 
of the idea itself." — Sermons, by Thomas Arnold, D.D. 
Vol. I. Fourth Edition. London, 1844. pp. 395-397. 



Note IV. — Page 40. 

The reader may find some remarks on this subject in my 
Companion to the Book of Genesis, Note 19, pp. 183-196. 
In Note 21, pp. 197, 198, the various views of the original 
terms in which the promise is contained, are briefly given. 



Note V. — Page 41. 

" The first prediction was given in a promise adapted to 
man's forfeited condition, the promise of a Redeemer, who, 
in some way not then explained, was appointed to bruise the 
serpent's head, that is, to take away the tempter's triumph. 
To Adam was given a hope of the redemption of his race, 
with uncertainty as to the mode in which this end should 
15* 



174 NOTES. 

be effected." — See Discourses on Prophecy, by John Da- 
vison, B.D. Oxford, 1834, 8vo. pp. 75, 77, 79. 

" As the prophecy stands in the third chapter of Genesis, 
nothing appears to point out this particular meaning," (of 
" destroying the power of sin, and the redemption of man- 
kind by Christ,) much less to confine the prophecy to it. 
This prophecy was to our first parents but very obscure ; 
but a light shining in a dark place. All that they could 
certainly conclude from it was, that their case was not 
desperate ; that some remedy, some deliverance, would in 
time appear ; but when, or where, or by what means, they 
could not understand." — The Use and Intent of Prophecy, 
by Thomas Sherlock, D.D. London, 1732, pp. 59, 65. 
Compare also p. 70. 

Note VI.— Page 43. 

The communication recorded in Gen. xii. 1, is undoubt- 
edly the second, preparatory to Abram's removal from 
Haran to the land of Canaan. His first migration, which 
was from Ur of the Chaldees, had been mentioned just be- 
fore in xi. 31. The original ought to be rendered, in ac- 
cordance with its invariable meaning — and the Lord said. 
The reason which probably induced our translators to pre- 
fer the pluperfect tense, may be found in the work before 
referred to, Note 59, pp. 239, 240, where the true meaning 
of the text is defended against the objections of Rosen- 
miiller. 

Note VII.— Page 47. 

The book on Genesis already mentioned contains a full 
examination of the various views which have been taken 
of this celebrated text, both in ancient and modern times. 
See Note 10, pp. 371-388. 



175 



Note VIIL— Page 58. 



This extract from the Commentary of Abarbanel is ac- 
companied by a note, in a work published by Stanford & 
Swords, in 1847, entitled, " Biographical Notices of some 
of the most Distinguished Jewish Rabbies, and Transla- 
tions of Portions of their Commentaries and other Works, 
with Illustrative Introductions and Notes." See p. 196. 

Note IX— Page 62. 

In Acts ix. 7, it is said, that " the men stood speechless, 
hearing the voice indeed, but seeing no one." In xxvi. 14, 
the voice is said to have been uttered "in the Hebrew 
tongue." This may help to explain the seeming discrep- 
ancy between ix. 7 and xxii. 9: "they that were with me 
heard not the voice." The original word rendered heard, 
may convey the idea of perceiving distinctly. In this case 
a sound somewhat confused may have been heard, (making 
an impression similar perhaps to that made on those of the 
by-standers referred to in John xii. 29, who thought " it 
thundered,") but not sufficiently distinct to enable the 
hearers to comprehend the meaning. Or the word may 
signify, as it is actually rendered in 1 Cor. xiv. 2, to under- 
stand. If Saul's attendants were composed of a Roman 
band, as is very likely, Hebrew would, in all probabil- 
ity, have been unintelligible to them. 

Note X.— Page 63. 

What the Urim and Thummim were, can only be con- 
jectured. The reader who wishes to know the various 
opinions of the learned, may consult writers on Jewish 
Antiquities. It seems evident from Exodus xxviii. 30, that 
they were not identical with the twelve stones. The 



176 NOTES. 

words, which mean lights and perfections, that is, the most 
perfect illumination, may have been applied to the things 
themselves, in order to indicate the certainty and fulness 
of the divine revelations, whether communicated orally to 
the priest, or directly to his internal faculty. 

Note XL— Page 64. 

See, for example, the instances of Abimelech, Laban and 
Balaam, mentioned in Gen. xx. 6, 7 ; xxxi. 24, 29 ; Num. 
xxii. 8-13, 20. Such cases did not escape the notice of 
the celebrated Maimonides. — See my Jewish Rabbies, pp. 
233-235. 

Note XII.— Page 65. 

Thus we read, " the vision which Isaiah saw" Isa. i. 1 ; 
" the word (or thing) that he saw," ii. 1 ; " I saw the Lord," 
vi. 1 ; " a grievous vision is declared to me," xxi. 2 ; " the 
vision of Obadiah," i. 1 ; " write the vision ; the vision is 
for an appointed time," Hab. ii. 2, 3. Gad is called " Da- 
vid's seer," 2 Chron. xxi v. 1. Ezekiel is said to be made 
" a watchman ;" to see, as it were, the approaching evil, and 
to give warning, hi. 17, et seq. Compare Isa. xxi. 6, 8, Ivi. 10. 
At the time when the ninth chapter of the First Book of 
Samuel was w T ritten,the word in common use was prophet; 
but during the period of which the author is narrating, the 
term employed was seer. See v. 9. Still, the writer does 
not mean to say that the name of prophet had never before 
been thus employed ; for even the Pentateuch contains evi- 
dence that it was sometimes used to denote one who pos- 
sessed the ability of predicting future events. See Deut. 
xviii. 22. 

In accordance with this method of representing the fu- 
ture to the mind of the prophet who receives the divine 
communication, it is occasionally said that he is taken to, 
some elevated position. Thus the whole scene intended 



NOTES. 177 

to be impressed on the mind, would appear like a collection 
or succession of real historical facts, actually taking place 
at the very time of the revelation. Thus, for example, 
after the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, Ezekiel, 
a captive in Babylonia, being about to receive a revelation 
of the establishment of a new temple, is " brought in the 
visions of God into the land of Israel, and set upon a very 
high mountain" xl. 2. The same mode of representation 
is employed in the Apocalypse : " He carried me away in 
the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me 
that great city," &c, xxi. 10. And there are not wanting 
able and orthodox commentators who apply the same prin- 
ciple of prophetic interpretation to the account given by 
the Evangelists,- and especially St. Luke, of the last re- 
markable temptation of our Lord in the wilderness : " The 
devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto 
him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time" 
iv. 5. 

Note XIIL— Page 68. 

The language of the very learned and equally modest 
Pococke, is well worthy of the reader's attention. " Vision 
in that notion of the word in which it is here used, was 
that way whereby God did make known to his prophets 
and instruments, such things as he would have them de- 
clare concerning things to come, or any part of his will, by 
representing them to them as plainly as if they saw them 
with their eyes and bodily senses, in such resemblances 
which did make them known to them, that they might dis- 
cover them to those whom he w T ould have to know them: 
whether that vision were corporalis, imaginaria, or intellec- 
tualis, as they distinguish them ; corporal, when some ap- 
pearance was represented to their bodily eyes ; or imagi- 
nary, when such forms were deeply impressed on their 
imagination; or intellectual, by some intelligible image of 
the thing, representing clearly to the understanding that 



178 NOTES. 

which was to be revealed ; and whether any such images 
were in somnis, in dreams or trances, or extra somnium, 
without dreams." — Commentary on the Prophecy of Hosea, 
by Edward Pococke, D.D., &c. Oxford, 1785, fol., p. 684. 



Note XIV.— Page 72. 

The names of the four most distinguished angels, those 
who, according to the Rabbies, are about the divine throne, 
are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. Michael stands 
on the right of the throne, Uriel on the left, Gabriel in 
front, and Raphael behind. The reader may find these 
particulars, and also the Rabbinical account of the origin 
of these names, in Buxtorf's Lex. Chal. Tal. et Rab., fol., 
1639, under Uriel, Col. 46. 

Note XV.— Page 75. 

Isa. xx. 2-4. " Naked." — The same language is used of 
Saul in 1 Sam. xix. 24. But in both places it merely 
means, having the outer garments off, or, it may be, a fart 
of the inner also. The same mode of speaking is used by 
old authority in the account of the disrobement of Richard 
the Third and Anne on the occasion of their coronation : 
" They put off their robes, and stood all naked from their 
waists up." And yet the ceremonial of the coronation of 
kings of France, describes the dress to be used on such 
occasions as " close-fitting tunics of silk, having apertures 
on the breast and between the shoulders," on which the 
chrism might be placed. That of English consecrations 
was most probably similar. — See Queens of England, by 
Miss Strickland, vol. 3d, p. 249, Lea & Blanchard's edi- 
tion, Philadelphia, 1847. 



179 



Note XVI.— Page 85. 



The translation of the two portions which are introduced 
in the discourse, varies slightly from that of our English 
version. The reader who examines the original text will 
perceive that the variations are in strict accordance with it. 
They have also the sanction of the best Biblical critics and 
expositors. Some of the Hebrew verbs, although in the 
preterite tense, and so translated in our Bibles, are ren- 
dered in the present. It is hardly necessary to say, that 
this is supported by the usage of the language, and the 
authority of the best grammarians. — See Nordheimer's 
Hebrew Grammar, Book hi., chap. 12, sect. 952, et seq. ; and 
Conant's Gesenius, Part iii., chap, hi., sect. 124, 3. 

In the latter part of the quotation from Isaiah, I have 
substituted the phrase, and they shall call him, for the more 
literal translation, and they shall call his name. I have done 
this in order to express the true meaning of the prophet. 
An objection has actually been made to the application of 
this prophecy to our Lord, because he had no other name 
than Jesus, and was not called by any of the appellations 
here mentioned. A very moderate acquaintance with the 
phraseology of Scripture, is sufficient to show at once the 
ignorance of the objector. The prophet has no reference 
to the proper name whereby the Messiah should be known 
among his brethren of mankind, but to those appellations 
which should mark his character and nature. 

In addition to the ordinary sense of giving a name to a 
person or thing, whereby it shall be called and designated, 
as Ishmael, Samuel, Jerusalem, and the like, the phrases 
to call by a name, to be called, shall call his name, and others 
of the same kind, are employed in two senses ; and the true 
one must in every case be gathered from the context, the 
nature of the subject, and the analogy of Scripture. First, 
. a name is imposed in consequence of the existence of a 
state of things corresponding with its import. Thus in 



180 NOTES. 

Isaiah viii. 1, 3, 4, the prophet names his son MahershalaU 
hashbaz, that is, hurries the booty, hastens the spoil ; and this 
in order to impress his prediction, that the time was fast 
approaching when the Assyrians should lay waste the 
countries of Israel and Syria, and carry off the booty. The 
fulfilment of the prophecy is recorded in 2 Kings xv. 29, 
and xvi. 9. In lxii. 4, it is said of Zion and Jerusalem, 
" thou shalt be called Hephzibah" that is, my delight (is) in 
her, " and thy land Beulah," or married, indicative of a con- 
dition expressed by what follows : " the Lord delighteth in 
thee, and thy land shall be married" that is, shall be blessed 
with numerous offspring, like a favored and prolific mother. 
Thus also the last words of Ezekiel are expressive of the 
divine presence to bless the new Jerusalem : " the name of 
the city shall be, the Lord is there" And notwithstanding 
all the efforts which have been made to give a different 
meaning to the latter half of Jer. xxxiii. 16, there is no 
reason to doubt that the same rule of interpretation applies 
there, and that the true translation accords with the view 
given in our English version : " this is what they shall call 
her, (Jerusalem,) the Lord our righteousness." The name 
designates the city, and indicates its religious and highly 
favored condition. Multitudes of other illustrations might 
be added, but those adduced are abundantly sufficient to 
settle the principle. It is of no essential importance 
whether the name be that by which the object is designated, 
or merely ideal and symbolical. 

Secondly, the name often marks the character and nature 
of the individual to whom it is applied. A very remark- 
able illustration of this occurs in 1 Samuel xxv. 25 : " As 
his name is, so is he ; Nabal is his name and folly is with 
him :" Nabal being the Hebrew word for a foolish, wicked, 
ungodly man. Thus also the name of Jesus was given to 
our Lord to mark his office and character as a Saviour. 
On the same principle the appellations bestowed on the 
Messiah in Isaiah vii. 14, and ix. 6, and perhaps in Jeremiah 



NOTES. 181 

xxiii. 4, may be applied in order to mark his true divinity. 
Thus they may serve to confirm in the believer's mind the 
important truth of which he had before received undoubted 
assurance from other parts of Scripture. 

I have chosen the noun wonder in preference to the 
adjective employed in our translation, because it accords 
better both with the form of the word and with those with 
which it is associated. Still, as it is a concrete, it must be 
understood in the sense of the wonderful. The word in 
Judges xiii. 18, which is rendered in the English version 
" secret," is radically the same, and ought to be translated 
the same way. This will be clear to any one who reads 
the passage in the original, where the root occurs in the 
form of a verb in the next verse, and is rightly rendered 
" did wondrously." 

Note XVIL— Page 86. 

The general principle of prophetic interpretation which 
is believed to be correct, is sustained in the body of the 
discourse by suitable examples. Particular modifications 
of it, with its various degrees of application, might be left 
to the reader's own observation. Still with the view of 
illustrating some of the remarks which have been made, I 
have thought proper to imbody in a note what could not 
very suitably be incorporated in a sermon or lecture. 

1. I have remarked that the description may be equally 
or directly applicable to each of the particulars predicted. 
The prophecy of Balaam* " I shall see him, but not now ; 
I shall behold him, but not nigh : there shall come a star 
(that is a glorious prince,) out of Jacob, and a sceptre (or 
ruler,) shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners 
(or coasts, territories,) of Moab, and destroy all the sons 
of Sheth," (in other words, the tumultuous ones, the ra- 
ging enemies,) is susceptible of an exposition exclusively 

* Num. xxiv. 17. 
16 



182 NOTES. 

to David. But prophetic analogy demands a broader in 
terpretation ; and this is supported by the oldest and most 
venerable authorities, and appears in the Chaldee Para- 
phrase of Onkelos, which comprehends the Messiah. As- 
suming the correctness of this view, it can hardly be ques- 
tioned that some of the language of the prediction is 
equally, and all of it directly, applicable both to David and 
Christ, Thus also the promise : " I will bring thy seed 
from the east, and gather thee from the west ; I will say to 
the north, give up ; and to the south, keep not back :"* re- 
ferring, as it well may, to the return of the Jews and Is- 
raelites to their own land, refers also to their return to God 
in the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah ; and is equally 
applicable to each. In the 69th and 109th Psalms, David 
and his enemies, Ahithophel in particular, and Christ and 
his obstinate and impenitent opposers, and especially the 
noted calumniator who betrayed him, are equally intended, 
and the character and punishment of contemporaries of 
each are alike described. See Acts i. 16, 20; Romans xi. 
9, 10. To these may be added such places as Isaiah vi. 
9, 10, compared with Matthew xiii. 14, 15, and the parallel 
places in the other Gospels; Isaiah xxix. 13, with Matthew 
xv. 8, and Mark vii. 6. 

2. The description is sometimes particularly applicable 
to the nearer and sometimes to the more remote. The 
book of Isaiah, and especially the last twenty-seven chap- 
ters, afford numerous illustrations of this remark. The 
tenth chapter predicts the escape of a portion of Israelites 
from the sword of the Assyrian, and their return to a peace- 
ful and religious condition, comprising also the escape of a 
remnant in time to come from error and sin and ruin by 
their conversion to the true Messiah. Yet the nearer event 
is unquestionably that to which verses 20-23 are particularly 
appropriate. Thus also xl. 2, " Speak ye comfortably to 
Jerusalem," &c, is especially descriptive of the state of the 



NOTES. 183 

Babylonian exiles who had heard, or were soon to hear, 
the decree of Cyrus authorizing- their return to their own 
land ; and yet quite applicable to the natural condition of 
mankind, when called by the comfortable voice of Gospel 
invitation, and assured of pardon and forgiveness. 

On the other hand, the language is sometimes better 
adapted to describe the more remote points of the prophecy, 
Thus the first verse of the 32d chapter of Isaiah, though ap 
plicable to the religious government of a pious monarch, 
such as Hezekiah or Josiah, is vastly more so to that of 
King Messiah, whose rule is to be accompanied by peace 
and happiness. The appeal and description in the 54th, 
though intended doubtless to represent the happy con- 
dition of the returned people, does still more vividly de- 
lineate the blessed state of evangelical privilege, which the 
Messiah would secure to them. And in the 56th chap- 
ter, while the promise of God, to " bring the sons of the 
stranger to his holy mountain, and make them joyful in his 
house of prayer," may have been intended to apply to any 
sincere proselytes to the Jewish religion, it is certainly 
most especially intended of the conversion of Gentiles to 
Christ, and of their union with their Jewish brethren in the 
one holy church which the apostles should establish. It is 
unnecessary to adduce any other examples. 

3. The application of the principle to the one or the 
other exclusively must be admitted by every careful and 
candid examiner. Thus in Isaiah xli. 2, 3, 25, Cyrus is the 
only subject of the prophecy. That the Persian conqueror 
is meant, and not the patriarch Abraham, (as some have 
thought,) is evident from the context; and in xlv. 1-6 he 
is expressly named. In xlii. 6, 7, " The covenant of the 
people and the light of the Gentiles," can be none other 
than the Messiah. The same is true of xlix. 5, 6, and 
most probably of the whole section from lii. 13 to liii. 12, 
inclusive. It is plain that the prophet sometimes introduces 
the temporal and sometimes the spiritual deliverer sepa- 



184 NOTES. 

rately and distinctly. The connection of the two deliver- 
ances makes this perfectly easy and natural. And the pre- 
diction in ii. 2 et seq., with the corresponding one in Micah iv. 
1 et seq., cannot possibly relate to anything but the establish- 
ment of Messiah's church and kingdom as a holy and fa- 
vored resort for converts from every nation of the globe. 

The principle next referred to in the discourse, namely, 
that the prophet's language is always limited to a single 
object, has been defended by interpreters of opposite senti- 
ments. The rationalistic theory assumes it, and explains 
all such language as that under consideration of isolated 
facts, either contemporaneous with the author, or such as 
his sagacity might enable him to foresee. Rosenmiiller re- 
marks, that, to refer a passage, which literally and histori- 
cally relates to David, in an allegorical and sublime sense to 
Christ, is altogether at variance with the rules of correct 
and sober interpretation, and that, if one should venture to 
treat any Greek or Roman author in this way, he would de- 
servedly subject himself to the censure of all sensible per- 
sons.* He therefore thinks it sufficient to say of the words 
of Isaiah, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, 
prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert 
a highway for our God;"f " This verse is accommodated 
by Matthew to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for 
the coming Messiah."! He does not stop to settle the im- 
portant point which must be proved before the principle of 
accommodation can rightly and logically be applied. 

To discuss this rationalistic theory of interpretation 
would be impracticable in a brief note. Some of its diffi- 
culties are suggested in the discourse. Its defenders are 
compelled to treat the Bible in a manner wholly inconsis- 
tent with historical evidence, and its own essential internal 
religious claims. A thoughtful and serious reader is not 



* Scholia on Ps. xvi. Argumen. p. 367. f Isa. zl. 3. 

t Scholia on Isaiah xl. 3. 



NOTES. 185 

likely to be seduced from the truth, by so superficial a 
system. 

But the principle under review has developed itself in a 
very different form, and from motives wholly opposite. 
Believing that what has been called a double sense, or " a 
double interpretation," is wholly inadmissible, the indefat- 
igable and learned Dr. Samuel Lee, D.D., late Regius 
Professor of Hebrew, and formerly of Arabic, in the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge, has taken the very contrary ground 
to that of Rosenm tiller, Gesenius, and the German Neolo- 
gists. He maintains that the words of Isaiah before cited 
are to be understood exclusively of the coming of Christ, 
preceded by his forerunner, John the Baptist. "Isaiah xl. 
is thought to be such a prophecy," that is, one " that war- 
rants a double interpretation, because, it is said, it must 
primarily relate to the delivery from Babylon. To show 
this we have considerable talent, poetical imagery, and 
some fine writing displayed. I doubt, nevertheless, whether 
the whole of this is not a mere delusion. The New Tes- 
tament is quite sufficient to show that it applies to the 
times of Christ. Some passages which it contains seem 
also to show, that it never could have applied to the tem- 
poral Jerusalem." He then quotes from vs. 4, 5, 31, and 
concludes thus : " The Apostolic interpretation therefore is 
the just one ; and every other ought to be rejected as worth- 
less and mischievous."* But this is by no means satisfac- 
tory. No Christian doubts the truth of the Apostolic 
interpretation ; but the admission of it does not prove that 
other points beside those which the Apostles have deter- 
mined to be intended were not also comprehended within 
the original prediction. The question is not, whether the 
New Testament exposition of the prophet is true, but 

* Dissertation on the Interpretation of Prophecy, London, 1830, p. 277. 
Dr. Lee has lately published a most learned and laborious wort, entitled, 
Am Inqui y into the Nature Progress, and End of Pi ophecy. The volume, 
which contains upwards of 500 octavo pages, comprehends an exposition 
of the Apocalypse. 

16* 



186 NOTES. 

whether he may not have comprehended something more 
than this exposition develops. And the whole series of the 
prophetic discourse proves that he did. 

I have before referred to the remarks of Dr. Arnold on 
prophecy. They are well worthy of attention, and must 
suggest to the thoughtful reader interesting considerations. 
Still I cannot but think that he has laid down a principle, 
which, however true it may be in general, is yet not sus- 
ceptible of universal application. 

" Whatever scheme of interpretation we adopt for pro- 
phecy, it is at any rate necessary that it should proceed 
upon some fixed principle, and not be varied according to 
the supposed meanings of particular passages. It is con- 
sistent to follow throughout and exclusively a historical 
interpretation; it is consistent also to follow exclusively a 
spiritual interpretation ; or again, it is consistent to adopt 
always the two together, and to say that every prophecy 
has its historical sense, and also its spiritual sense. But it 
is not consistent to interpret the same prophecy partly 
historically and partly spiritually : to say that in one verse 
David is spoken of, and in another Christ : that Jerusalem 
here means the literal city in Palestine, and there signifies 
heaven : that Israel in one place signifies the historical 
people of the Israelites, and in another place the people of 
God, whether Jews or Gentiles. This is absolutely fool- 
ish, and is manifestly a mere accommodation of the pro- 
phetical Scriptures to certain previously conceived notions 
of our own."* 

In general this is all true. Some interpreters have 
selected certain passages from a continued prophecy marked 
by unity of subject, and applied them to one particular, at 
the same time explaining other passages belonging to the 
same connected series of discourse, of something entirely 
different. This is, as the author maintains, wholly gratuit- 
ous and without reason. But it seems to me that he goes 

• Ubi Sup. 405. 



NOTES. 187 

too far in saying, that " it is not consistent to interpret the 
same prophecy partly historically and partly spiritually;" 
or, in other words, in denying that a literal sense may be 
given to some clauses of a discourse when the general cur- 
rent of its meaning is spiritual. The comprehensive char- 
acter of the prophetic discourse must be taken into consid- 
eration in forming a judgment on such a point. The 
49th chapter of Isaiah is undoubtedly a description of the 
true or mystical Israel, the church of Christ, its numbers, 
happiness, and settled condition in the divine favor. When, 
in the midst of this representation of spiritual blessings, we 
meet with such language as — " to cause the desolate heri- 
tages to be inherited ; to say to the prisoners, Go forth ;" — 
what valid objection can there be against understanding it 
literally of deliverance from Babylonian captivity, and re- 
settlement in former habitations in Palestine ? And also 
in liv. 3, where the subject and language are the same? 
And in the 102d Psalm, which seems undoubtedly to refer 
to the return of the Jewish exiles, why may not the 13th 
and 14th verses relate to the literal re-building of Zion at 
the expiration of the determined period of seventy years, 
although in close connection with the spiritual building of 
the mystical Zion, the church of the Redeemer 1 And the 
same remark is applicable to other places. Such statements 
may indeed be »V .atended as figures of the ultimate pro- 
phetic idea ; but I can see no reason why they may not be 
also predictions of literal facts. 

Note XVIIL— Page 93. 

The prophecy in 2 Sam. vii., which is applied to our 
Lord in the Epistle to the Hebrews i. 5, is the same as 
that recorded in the parallel history, 1 Chron. xvii., and of 
which David speaks to his son Solomon in 1 Chron. xxii. 
7, et seq. Attempts have been made to prove that the last 
portion relates to a prophecy " entirely distinct" from that 



188 NOTES. 

narrated in the two former. But the effort is an utter fail- 
ure. The reader may consult Peirce's* note (n) on the 
text in Hebrews, who gives the substance of Winston's 
remarks. None of his arguments will bear examination, 
and his translation of the Hebrew words in 2 Sam. vii. 14, 
is so forced that the merest tyro in the language must see 
at once that it cannot be defended : " Whosoever shall com-" 
mil iniquity, I will chastise him with the rod of men, &c. 
The whosoever is to be understood of those who belonged 
to the Messiah, and were his people or subjects," p. 16. 

Dr. Hales has endeavored to sustain a translation some- 
what different, but even less defensible : " J will be to him 
a father, and he shall bt to me a son ; whosoever (shall be 
concerned) in injuring him, even I will chastise them with 
the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of Adam.'' 1 
He calls this an attempt to render " this illustrious pro- 
phecy more closely and correctly .'" Let any competent 
Hebrew scholar judge of such a rendering. The first 
reason given for condemning " the authorized translation 
as incorrect," is, that " the conditional particle if is want- 
ing in the original" ! ! One might as well say, that in 
the expression, " as he was come nigh to Jericho," Luke 
xviii. 35, the particle as is wanting in the Greek. It is ac- 
knowledged, however, that "this grievous mistranslation 
and misapplication of the passage" arose from " our Eng- 
lish Bible" having " followed the ancient versions."! Yet 
Dr. Hales has written largely and learnedly on Ancient 
Chronology, has analyzed a considerable portion of the Old 
Testament, and was a Professor of Oriental languages. In 
the present state of Hebrew knowledge, it were quite 
superfluous to show, that this so-called " more close and 

* A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews, by Jambs 
Pkirce of Exon. London, 1727. 

t A new Analysis of Chronology, &c. by the Rev. William Hales, D.D., 
Rector of Killesandra, in Ireland, and formerly Fellow of Trinity College, 
and Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of Dublin, in three 
volumes, 4to. London, 1811, vol. ii. p. 367. 



NOTES. 189 

correct rendering" than that of " the ancient versions," and 
"our English Bible," (which in general is exceedingly- 
good,) loses sight of the idiom of the language, and gives 
to the verb a meaning which it never bears. It is not to 
be wondered at that the Old Testament has been thought 
to be so uncertain as to admit of almost any meaning that 
may be desired, since it has been subjected to such criti- 
cism as this, and by learned men occupying distinguished 
positions. The literal sense of the original after the word 
son, is as follows : ' who, in his committing iniquity (swerv- 
ing from the right way), then I will chastise him,'' &c. The 
idiomatic expression does indeed exclude " the conditional 
particle," but necessarily implies it. In the English trans- 
lation the relative pronoun is omitted, simply because it is 
unnecessary; and it is evident that both this and the pro- 
nominal suffix must be understood of the same subject. 
To assume different ones is to take for granted the very 
thing to be proved. It is therefore impossible to interpret 
the prophecy solely of the Messiah; unless, indeed, a mere 
hypothetical case is imagined, such as that in Gal. i. 8. 
But this is wholly improbable, and, so far as I know, has 
never been affirmed. 

Neither, on the other hand, can the prophecy be limited to 
Solomon. It were preposterous to apply to him exclusively 
such language as the following : " I will establish his king- 
dom — I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever — I 
will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom forever, 
and his throne shall be established for evermore."* It is 
possible that David may have attached perpetuity to Solo- 
mon's earthly kingdom, on the authority of this promise ;f 
but the promise itself cannot be limited to the dominion of 
a monarch, whose imbecile son suffered ten of the twelve 
tribes to fall away from his allegiance in consequence of 
his boast of the exercise of contemptible tyranny. To ad- 
mit, as Dr. Arnold does, that such expressions, so far as they 

• 1 Sam. vii. 12, 13. 1 Chron. xvii. 14. f See 1 Chron. xxii. 9, 10. 



190 NOTES. 

regard a merely temporal kingdom, are " hyperbolical," is 
to give up the point in debate. Besides, the words in 
1 Chron. xvii. 11, are at variance with such a theory: "I 
will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons." 
Consequently, the seed or progeny intended cannot possi- 
bly be limited to any individual of David's royal children. 

What now is meant by the house that this seed is to 
build? Certainly it is the temple that Solomon erected to 
the honor of Jehovah, the God of Israel. The narratives in 
Samuel and Chronicles are too clear on this point to admit 
of the least uncertainty. But the inquiry still remains, is 
nothing more intended than the building of the material 
temple on Mount Moriah ? And the whole character of the 
Mosaic dispensation harmonizes with the answer, which is 
given also in the language of prophecy elsewhere, that 
along with the building of the material temple by Solomon 
there is intended also the establishment of the spiritual edi- 
fice by Christ; that is to say, his holy Catholic Church, 
which is to remain firm forever, against which the gates of 
hell itself shall not be able to prevail. This is " the Lord's 
house," the elevation and glory of which are predicted in 
Isaiah ii. 2 et seq. ; the " house of prayer for all nations," 
Isaiah lvi. 7, Matthew xxi. 13. It were idle to limit this 
language to the temple, because of its containing a court 
in which a few Gentiles, in accordance with the Mosaic 
law, might worship the God of Israel. It is vastly more 
comprehensive. It teaches that the Jewish temple was a 
symbol of the church. And doubtless, in view of this sub- 
lime truth, our Lord uttered the memorable words : " De- 
stroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." " He 
spake," says the divine interpreter, " of the temple of his 
body," John ii. 19, 21. Keeping in view the Scriptural 
connection between the literal body of Christ and his mys- 
tical body the Church, and also the symbolical connection 
of the Jewish temple with the latter, the language, which 
at first appears dark and inexplicable, becomes luminous 



NOTES. 191 

and full of meaning. It is as if he had said : ' The temple 
is, as it were, the residence of God, and my body is the di- 
vine habitation. By destroying the latter, you destroy also 
your temple, which is the pledge of God's dwelling with 
you. By raising up my body, which I will do on the third 
day from its dissolution, I build up again the real temple, 
the church of which your material building is the symbol. 
You demand a sign, (v. 18 ;) the great sign shall.be my res- 
urrection, followed by the rearing up of the spiritual tem- 
ple.' 

" And now we see that it was not arbitrarily or capri- 
ciously that so many passages in Scripture are applied to 
our Lord by himself and by his apostles; passages which 
according to the undoubted evidence of their context, were 
historically and literally spoken of some imperfect prophet 
or king or priest or people, in whom " alone" they had 
found, and could find, no adequate fulfilment."* 

Note XIX.— Page 97. 

Our Lord's language in St. Matthew from the 29th verse, 
" Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun 
shall be darkened" &c, to the end of the prophecy, has 
been thought to be intended exclusively of his future and 
glorious coming. But on this theory it is impossible to 
give any satisfactory exposition of the words in verses 29 
and 34. " The tribulation" is that connected with the siege 
and conquest of Jerusalem, " immediately after''' which the 
events next predicted are to follow. Hengstenberg en- 
deavors to remove the difficulty by resorting to the state 
of prophetic vision. " How essential this property is to 
the nature of prophecy, appears from its characterizing even 
the predictions of Christ, and it is in a great measure owing 
to ignorance of it, that they have so often been falsely in- 
terpreted. To him also the events of the future presented 

* Arnold ubi sup. p. 388. 



192 NOTES. 

themselves as in a large picture, and therefore in space, not 
in time. In describing its separate parts, as the destruction 
of Jerusalem and the day of judgment, the designations of 
time, which he employed, as immediately, Matthew xxiv. 29, 
relate to the succession of the objects as they appeared to 
him in prophetic vision, and not as they were actually to take 
place."* But, granting that to the inspired mind of the 
prophet, and even to that of Christ himself, the predicted 
events did so appear ; it cannot be conceded that either the 
prophet or his biographer would describe the coming of 
those events in terms, which naturally and almost unavoid- 
ably give the reader a false impression. The prophets may 
place such events in connection, but they never affirm their 
chronological proximity, as on this theory must be allowed 
to be done by St. Matthew. Neither do the descriptions 
which follow require its application. Such highly figura- 
tive and even hyperbolical language to express the over- 
throw of kingdoms abounds in the prophetic writings. See 
Hag. ii. 6, 7. Isa. xiii. 10, 13. xiv. 12, 13. Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8. 
Joel ii. 10, and, as antithetic, Isa. xxx. 26. 

It has also been said that the Greek word in verse 34 
rendered "generation" should be translated race, and that 
the language merely predicts the continuance of the Jews as 
a people until the period referred to. But this is a mistake. 
The Jews can hardly be said to have been a people, in the 
ordinary sense of the word when intended to denote na- 
tional condition, since their overthrow by the Romans. 
And, even admitting that the Greek word is sometimes used 
by classic writers to express a race or nation, the New 
Testament invariably employs it in the sense of generation, 
race of men subsisting in one particular age, and in this 
meaning it occurs thirty-nine times. On the other hand, 
wherever the race as such is intended, we find the words for 



* Christology of the Old Testament. By E. N. Hengstenberg, &c. 
Keith's translation, Alexandria, 1836, vol. i. p. 229. 



NOTES. 193 

nation, people, Jews, Israel, Hebrews, ten tribes, but never the 
term here rightly rendered generation. 

The conclusion is unavoidable, that all the description 
preceding the 34th verse is susceptible of an interpretation 
bearing on the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and on 
other concomitant events. 

The description of these events along with others yet in 
the distant future, which also are comprehended within this 
description, agrees with prophetic analogy. And, presuming 
that the same principle suggests the best explanation of the 
connection of Matt. xvi. 27, 28, I have so remarked in the 
discourse. It is not unusual to expound the last verse of 
the transfiguration, an account of which follows in the be- 
ginning of the next chapter. Bishop Porteus, in his excel- 
lent Lectures on St. Matthew, has argued in defence of this 
view.* But it appears -to me quite improbable, to suppose 
that our Lord would publicly refer to a display of his glory 
such as the transfiguration, while he limited it to three 
chosen disciples, and charged even them to conceal it until 
his resurrection. Other difficulties attending this view 
might be urged, were it either necessary or expedient. 

Note XX.— Page 105. 

In illustration of the remark made in the discourse, the 
language in Gen. iii. 15, may be adduced: "It shall bruise 
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This is univer- 
sally granted to be figurative, except by a few ignorant or 
malevolent infidels, who would fasten on the words a mere- 
ly literal meaning, in order to expose the subject of the pre- 
diction to ridicule and contempt. Such a meaning is so 
utterly at variance with the dignity of the whole book, and 
the sublime and awful circumstances of the context, that it 
can be maintained only by the most uninformed or depraved. 
Thus too the promise to Abraham in xviii. 10, that Sarah 

* Lecture XIV. 
17 



194 NOTES. 

should have a son, is expressed in language most beauti- 
fully figurative. Instead of the translation, " according to 
the time of life," which gives no very clear or intelligible 
meaning, the original words most probably convey poeti- 
cally the idea of the same season in the next revolving 
year. As if the declaration had been ; * When this season 
of the year shall live again,' or ' revive ;" equivalent to our 
usual prosaic phrase, ' about this time next year.' The 
book abounds with passages confirmatory of the statement 
in the discourse. 

Note XXI.— Page 108. 

See Exodus xv. 1, et seq. ; Rev. xv. 3. The similarity 
of the short song of praise in Isaiah with the longer one in 
Exodus, must strike even the most inattentive reader. It 
appears in the use of the singular number at the com- 
mencement of each, and also in the choice of phrases and 
words. The latter half of the second verse in Isaiah is 
taken entirely from the former part of the same verse in 
Exodus. In both the word Jah occurs, in one as a substi- 
tute for Jehovah, and in the other, where it is translated 
Lord in the English, in addition to it. The suspicion of 
Houbigant and some others, that in the prophet the word 
is not genuine, is shown to be unfounded by the fact, that 
it is employed in the original poem contained in the 
history. 

Note XXIL— Page 120. 

It may perhaps be proper to inform the reader, that the 
language in the discourse is not vague and unfounded 
declamation, employed merely to round off an antithesis. 
It alludes to statements and interpretations actually main- 
tained by certain expositors of prophecy, some of whom 
are distinguished not only by worth of character, but also 



NOTES. 195 

by varied and extensive learning. It would seem that a 
re-establishment of the old Jewish system, or something- 
very like it, is expected, with this exception, that all na- 
tions are to unite with the ancient holy people in divine 
worship at the national altar. The locality of Solomon's 
temple is to be gloriously distinguished, and perhaps phy- 
sically elevated ; a splendid temple is to be built there, the 
materials of which are to be brought from Mount Lebanon, 
as formerly by arrangements made with Hiram ; the feast 
of tabernacles is to be celebrated there every year, and those 
who refuse to attend are threatened with condign punish- 
ment; the , most terrific extirpation of those who are hos- 
tile to the Messiah, is to be perpetrated by " the saints of 
the Most High, who are to possess the kingdom," and in 
this extermination of the ungodly, they are to follow the 
example of the divinely directed and aided conqueror of the 
Canaanites. I might swell this note by large and numer- 
ous quotations from many publications. But not to weary 
the attention and patience of the reader, I shall confine 
myself in the proof and illustration of what has been said, 
to two or three prominent authors. 

The following passages occur in Mr. Irving's book on 
prophecy.* The author is commenting on Isa. ii. 1, the pre- 
diction of " the establishment of the mountain of the Lord's 
house in the top of the mountains, and its exaltation above 
the hills. — Some have inclined to interpret this literally, of a 
real elevation of Mount Zion to a height which shall overtop 
the mountains around, and command the sight of all the peo- 
ple from afar. And that there will be great changes in the 
physical face of that country, cannot be doubted, as the 
prophets have expressly declared it." In proof of such 
declaration he then refers to Zech. xiv. 4, 10; Jer. xxxi. 38, 
et seq. ; and Ezek. xlv., xlviii. These, he says, " all agree 
with what is continually written in the Psalms and the 

* Interpretations of Old Testament Prophecies quoted in the New ; by a 
celebrated English divine. First Amer. Edit. Published by the Rav. Isaac 
P. Labagh, New York, 1845. 



196 NOTES. 

Prophets concerning the melting of the hills like wax before 
his presence! Ps. xcvii. ; Mic. i. 4; Isa. Ixiv. 1 ; Hab. iii. 
6, et seq. There must be some reality in these prophetical 
expressions which so continually occur ; some remarkable 
geographical changes upon the face of the earth, and especially 
of the Holy Land ; as in the darkening of the sun, and of the 
moon, and of the stars, and the falling of the towers, and the 
reeling of the earth .'" " Though, therefore, I have been ac- 
customed to give this passage of Micah, and the corres- 
ponding passage of Isaiah, a metaphorical interpretation — 
as significant of the supreme dignity which shall be given 
to Mount Zion, and the temple of the Lord thereon builded 
in the. age to come, and the willing homage which all 
mountains and high places of the earth will yield to that 
where the Lord's glory abideth — J am far from slighting 
the more literal interpretation which hath been given to it 
by Ben-Ezra and others, that Mount Zion shall receive a 
super-eminence of elevation far above the mountains 
around, to hold up to the sight of the nations the holy temple 
of the Lord. But still I incline to think, that the glory of 
Zion in the eye of the prophet, standeth rather in this, that 
it shall acquire such a celebrity in those days, as shall bring 
low the most noted of the mountains of the earth, and the 
eyes of all men upon it, being the centre of the worship of 
the whole world, as is set forth in all the prophets, and most 
gloriously in the 60th chapter of Isaiah, where all nations, 
and not only so, but all the natural productions of the 
earth, come together to beautify her, and to admire her 
beauty."* He then quotes a large portion of that chapter. 
On this extract, I must beg the reader's attention to one 
or two remarks. The absurd and ridiculous character of 
much of it, partly indicated by the italics, needs no com- 
ment. The " celebrated English divine" is " far from 
slighting the more literal interpretation of Ben-Ezra." 
But Ben (or Aben) Ezra gives no such literal interpreta- 

* Pp. 263-265. 



NOTES. 197 

tion. He was a man of great learning for his day, and 

what is still better, of very good sense, and his comment 
on the text is as follows : " There is no doubt that this 
prophecy relates to the future ; therefore the prophet says, 
In the latter days. And the meaning is this : inasmuch as 
he had said before, that the mountain of the house should 
become high places of the forest,* he (now) turns to com- 
fort Israel, for the glory of the house shall again return. 
It is (well) known that the mountain of the house was not 
high. But observe that the sense is this : its fame shall be 
widely extended, and from all corners (of the earth) people 
shall repeatedly bring offerings to it. It is as if it were on 
the tops of the mountains, and were elevated above the 
hills, so that all the inhabitants of the earth might see it." 
To the same purpose also the no less celebrated David 
Kimchi, whose comment runs thus : " After having spoken 
of the devastations of Zion and Jerusalem, the prophet 
gives them this consolation. It shall be in the last days; 
which are those of the Messiah. The mountain of the 
Lord's house, which he says shall be as the high places of 
the forest,* shall hereafter be established on the top of the 
mountains. He does not mean that the mountain shall be 
raised in bulk, but that the nations shall exalt and honor it, 
and shall go there to worship the Lord. And, inasmuch 
as the nations worshipped their gods upon high mountains 
and hills, he says that there they shall worship the Lord 
with one consent, and shall exalt this mountain above all 
others that have ever been exalted and glorified."f No 
doubt these and other Jewish Rabbies had extravagant an- 
ticipations, but they were not so absurd as some Christian 
writers would make them. 

In confirmation of the correctness of the view just given 
as that of Aben-Ezra and David Kimchi, if so plain and 
probable a comment can be thought to need evidence of 
having been written by men of sense and learning, let me 

* Mic. iii. 12. T See my Jewish Rabbies, pp. 198, 199. 

IV* 



198 NOTES. 

quote the equally learned Pococke's Commentary on Micah 
iv. 1 :* " The mountain of the house of the Lord, &c. ; that 
is, Mount Zion, or Mount Moriah. — Of this the Jews, un- 
derstanding it, the soberer of them, to omit some wilder 
and absurd expressions at least, (though we may think 
they meant not to be understood literally, as if hill should 
be set on hill for exalting it,) observe, that by saying, it 
shall be established on the top of the mountains and exalted 
above the hills, is not to be understood that it should be 
increased in height, but should be made illustrious by glo- 
rious privileges conferred on it, tokens of God's peculiar 
grace, and favor, and presence in it, and the temple on it : 
in consideration and admiration of which, many people 
should with reverence and respect look towards it, and in 
great multitudes flow unto it." 

What becomes now of this writer's attempt to make a 
distinguished Jewish Rabbi, noted for his learning and 
judgment, give so silly and extravagant a meaning to the 
prophet's figure ? 

Let me treat the reader to one or two additional speci- 
mens of interpretation asseverated by this expositor of 
prophecy. 

" The law shall go forth of Zion. — What this law is, I 
know not, if it be not that law which heretofore was given 
for the government of the nation of kings and priests, but 
which they kept not, and for not keeping which they lost 
their inheritance. In that day of the retribution of all 
things, I believe that the law, moral, judicial and political, 
which the Lord heretofore gave for the prosperity of men 
and nations, shall bless men and nations with that blessed- 
ness which it, and it only, is able to yield. It is a law of 
righteousness, given by God as the righteous condition of 
men in flesh, of men congregated together as families and 
nations, looking to Zion and Jerusalem as their head city 
and temple. My conviction is, that our dispensation, since 

• Oxford edition, folio, 1692, p. 29. 



NOTES. 199 

Christ, is altogether an interjected and intercalated period ; 
during which the members of the church that is to be glo- 
rified are in succession forming, until the body shall be 
completed: and this done, this period, proper to the sons of 
God, is ended, and the ways of God in governing men in flesh, 
which for this object were suspended, resume their wonted 
course. My idea is, that not the Old Testament, but the 
New Testament dispensation hath an end ; and then 
the other resumes its course, under Christ and his bride, 
which is his church."* A sufficient answer to all^ this is 
contained in 2 Cor. iii. 11, 13 ; Heb. xii. 27, 28 ; viii. 13. 

I shall probably have occasion to refer to this exposi- 
tion again. It is not at all surprising that one who is so 
confident should dogmatically decide, that " the man whose 
understanding of God's word is so vitiated as that he can- 
not see in these superabundant promises the fact of a na- 
tional restoration to Israel at all, is not in a case to under- 
stand any part of Scripture, and will interpret it according 
to his own prejudices and fancies, or those of the genera- 
tion he lives in and the men he esteems."f 

I turn now from a writer who is led away by an ungov- 
ernable enthusiasm, to another whose name is celebrated in 
various walks of literature, and who is usually under the 
guidance of a sober judgment. 

Dr. Henderson sustains a high character as a philolo- 
gist, a traveller and a theologian. And yet he is considera- 
bly under the influence of a preconceived theory. In his 
late work on Isaiah,! he sometimes loses sight of the sub- 
lime and beautifully poetic imagery of his author, and views 
only the meagre, prosaic, literal meaning of the burning 
words and seraphic figures of that lofty genius and divinely 
inspired prophet. After the splendid and glorious repre- 
sentation made by him in the 60th chapter of the future 

* Pp. 270, 271. t Pp. 267, 268. 

% The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, translated from the Original Hebrew, 
with a Commentary, critical, philological and exegetical. By the Rev. 
E. Henderson, D. Ph. London, 1840, 8vo. 



200 NOTES. 

spiritual condition of the holy people, the true Israel of con- 
verted Jews and Gentiles under the great king Messiah ; 
when light shall have poured into them ; when everything 
hostile shall have united in closest affection or have been 
completely subjugated; when whatever is valuable shall 
have become their own ; when all nations shall have con- 
tributed their beauteous and bountiful productions to adorn 
God's holy house, his spiritual temple ; when perfect peace 
and righteousness and happiness shall be enjoyed; O, how 
chilling is the bathos which brings down this most celestial 
delineation to the matter-of-fact business of cutting wood 
on Mount Lebanon, and transporting it to Jerusalem to 
build a new temple with ; of keeping the gates open, that 
people in general and travellers may not be hindered from 
going in and out even at night ! Lest I should be suspect- 
ed of an extravagant exaggeration of the author's state- 
ments, I submit the following extracts from his Commen- 
tary. 

"The inhabitants of the west, especially those which 
carry on maritime traffic, shall lay their ships and wealth 
under contribution to the accomplishment of the purposes of 
God relating to the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and 
to the further advancement of the divine glory. Their 
property as well as themselves sliall be conveyed free of 
charge, lx. 9. . The idea conveyed by the gates never being 
shut, is that of the continual arrival of the multitudes refer- 
red to. Modern travellers greatly complain of the inconveni- 
ence to which they are put when they do not reach Jerusalem 
before the gates are closed, 11. A literal temple or house 
of worship being intended, the language must be literally ex- 
plained." (The premises being assumed, the inference is 
of course unfounded.) " From all that appears to be the 
state of Palestine in regard to wood, supplies from Lebanon 
will be as necessary as they were when the ancient temple 
was constructed, 13. The temporal prosperity of the re- 
stored Israelites shall resemble that of their ancestors in the 



NOTES. 201 

days of Solomon, 17. The enemies of Israel having all 
been swept away by the powerful judgments of God, the 
most perfect tranquillity shall reign throughout the land, 
and those who may go up to worship at Jerusalem shall enjoy 
unmolested the fruit of their labor, lxii. 8, 9. Creation is 
here to be understood not physically, but in a civil and re- 
ligious sense. The subject is Jerusalem and the Jews. 
Their restoration will be like a fresh springing into exist- 
ence ; and the constitution to be established among them 
will be entirely different from their ancient economy, lxv. 
17, 18." 

Dr. Henderson, it will be observed, speaks of going up to 
worship at Jerusalem. It does not appear that he refers to 
any but Israelites. The author of the " interpretations" is 
by no means so exclusive. He extends this privilege to all 
nations. In Zech. xiv. 16, it is said, that "nations which 
came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year 
to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the 
feast of tabernacles." There can be no reasonable doubt 
that this is figurative, denoting a general worship of the 
true God in his true Church. The figure is taken from 
one of the three joyous annual festivals, which was at once 
commemorative of past blessing and symbolical of future. 
It is like the representation of St. Paul in 1 Cor. v. 7, 8, 
where living a holy life from Christian motives is ex- 
pressed under the image of purging out the old leaven, and 
keeping a sacred festival with unleavened bread. This view 
is in harmony with the context, which illustrates the reli- 
gious condition of the people thus : " In that day shall there 
be upon the bells of the horses, holiness unto the Lord. Yea, 
every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto 
the Lord of hosts," vs. 20, 21. But our author gives a literal 
exposition of the prophet. After quoting the text he pro- 
ceeds thus : " This I consider as the best commentary upon 
the verse under consideration,* and proves that the words 

* He is speaking of Isa. xii. 3, which, as well as John vii. 37, 38, proba- 



202 NOTES. 

are not to he understood in a merely spiritual sense, hut in a 
literal sense ; for no one, after reading this passage, can doubt 
that it is a real feast of tabernacles to which the nations shall 
be required to come up" He then proceeds to show why 
this feast in particular " should be set so prominently out, 
and be so peremptorily enforced, in the day of the millennial 
glory and blessedness." In attempting to do this, he gives 
very good reasons indeed for the prophet's selecting it as 
most happily illustrative of a truly Christian state and 
worship. He then remarks of the " children of Israel who 
are the proper subjects of our text," (in Isaiah,) " that there 
is no hint of their ever refusing to yield the obedience of 
that ordinance on the tenure of which the millennial blessed- 
ness is held : they shall do it with joy and gladness ; they 
shall acknowledge all unto the Lord. They shall year by 
year strip themselves of houses and of possessions, and be 
as their father Abraham was. They shall take the natural 
shelter of the wood, &c. ; put themselves into the condition 
of our first parents when driven forth of paradise, &e. ; 
adopt the symbols of the condition of their fathers in the 
wilderness, &c. And this same thing shall the nations be 
required to do ; but not in their own country, but at Jerusa- 
lem, in token of its being the city of the Lord and the me- 
tropolis of the whole earth ; the centre of the blessing, 
from which it flows over all the earth; the reservoir for col- 
lecting all the praise and thanksgiving coming fromthe whole 
blessed earth unto Jah- Jehovah. And when they shall cease 
thus to acknowledge the seed of Abraham as the blessing 
of all nations, when they shall draw off their allegiance to 
the nation of kings and priests ; when they shall conceive 
weariness of this yearly ordinance," &c. &c. Afterwards he 
says : " At the feast of tabernacles all nations are to appear in 
some way or other, (most likely by deputations of their chief 
governors,) when, being all assembled in far greater multi- 

bly alludes to the practice of pouring out water, as a symbol, at the feast 
of tabernacles. 



NOTES. 203 

tudes and from far more various regions than heretofore at 
Pentecost, the mother and metropolitan church in Jerusa- 
lem might well say unto them, ' Go your several ways to 
the nations from whom you are come ; Praise the Lord, 
proclaim his name, declare his doings, make mention that 
his name is exalted.' " — So confident is this writer of the 
truth of these and other kindred extravagances that he 
"denounces" in most unmeasured terms of abuse those 
who reject the literal meaning of such places, " as not only 
unbelievers in God's word, but confederate to destroy it." 
It is amusing, that while he modestly disclaims any " more 
learning than falls to the lot of common ministers of the 
Gospel," he does claim to be governed by such " canons of 
interpretation as sound sense furnishes" ! ! 

The language of Isaiah lxvi. 23, is cited in the discourse 
in confirmation of the figurative meaning assigned to that 
of Zechariah. The representations are very similar, and 
the idea conveyed is the same. " It shall come to pass, that 
from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to 
another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the 
Lord." The absurdity of attempting to explain this lite- 
rally of going to Jerusalem is palpable. If it should be 
said, that the prophet does not speak of going to Jerusalem, 
but of coming to worship before the Lord, and that this may 
be done on the occasions mentioned at anyplace ; I answer, 
that the context and usual meaning of the words prove the 
phrases to be equivalent. The chapter begins by declaring 
that place in divine worship is comparatively unimportant, 
and in this view it is quoted by St. Stephen in Acts vii. 49. 
We read in the 13th verse : "Ye shall be comforted in Je- 
rusalem" But surely no judicious expositor will limit this 
to the city so called. The 20th and 21st verses, however, 
are conclusive, and prove beyond a doubt that the prophet's 
language is figurative. " They shall bring all your brethren 
for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, 
and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon 



204 NOTES. 

swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, 
as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel 
into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them 
for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord." The words 
under consideration, which follow in the same connection, 
are therefore undoubtedly of the same import. As in the 
one case a literal meaning must necessarily be rejected, it is 
next to impossible to admit it in the other. And if this be 
figurative, why may it not be allowed that many other 
representations are figurative? Consistency would seem 
to require it; it would be entirely in harmony with the 
analogy of Scripture; and thus multitudes of difficulties 
would be obviated. 

The language just quoted from Isa. lxvi. 20, 31, is illus- 
trative of similar language in the New Testament. I shall 
limit the application to two passages. We have the same 
sacrificial figure in Phil. ii. 17: "If I be offered upon the 
sacrifice and service of your faith ;" that is, ' if I be poured 
out as a libation upon the sacrifice of your faith and obe- 
dience.' The reception of the Gospel by the Philippians, 
their dedication of themselves thereby to God, is regarded 
by St. Paul in the light of an acceptable oblation, and his 
death on account of his efforts in the cause of Christ, as a 
libation or drink-offering poured out upon it. In Rom. xv. 
16, he represents the Gentile converts as an offering, and 
himself as acting in the character of a priest, and thus 
" ministering the Gospel." But the representation is figur- 
ative, and no more proves the Apostle to have been a real 
priest, than it proves the Gentiles to have been a real 
sacrifice. 

Note XXIII.— Page 127. 

The former of the two cases mentioned occurs in Mr. 
Irving's book. He is commenting on Isaiah xi. 10, et seq. 
"Verse 10, In that day it shall come to pass that, &c. : 



NOTES. 205 

verse 11, In that day it shall come to pass that, &c. What 
then is the first of these things that shall come to pass in 
that day? The thing predicted is, that the Gentiles [goyim, 
the heathen nations, in contradistinction to the Jews, who are 
never but in some threatening called by that name,] shall 
seek unto the root of Jesse, which standeth for a sign to 
the people [ammim, the Jewish people]. The thing to be 
observed here is, that the root of Jesse first standeth for a 
sign to the Jewish people ; not as a sign to the other na- 
tions, which is a different event, set forth in v. 12. In v. 
10, he is the sign of the people ; in v. 12, he is the sign of 
the Gentiles. And we may rest assured that there is not a 
little contained in this opposition. Now, it is while the root 
of Jesse is standing as an ensign to the Jewish people, that 
the Gentiles seek to him." After endeavoring to obviate 
an objection to his exposition, drawm from Rom. xv. 12, 
w r here the Apostle clearly explains of the Gentiles what the 
author asserts to refer to the Jews, he says: "It is against 
all laws of interpretation to translate the two Hebrew 
w 7 ords written above, which commonly are in direct opposi- 
tion to each other, as if they w 7 ere the same word, though 
they occur in adjoining clauses." In the same w T ay he 
makes statements in another part of his work, where he 
has in view Micah iv. 1, 2, and the parallel place in Isaiah. 
" The next thing after the ennobling of the place above all 
places of the earth, is the flowing of the people unto it ; 
that is, the people of the Lord, the Jewish people, in contradis- 
tinction to the nations, or Gentiles, who are spoken of next."* 
Now it happens that the words which occur in these pass- 
ages, and are in the plural number, are never thus used for 
the Hebrew people as such, but always designate the Gen- 
tiles or nations. The direct opposition or contradistinction, 
which he assures us is so pregnant with meaning, is purely 
a figment of his own imagination, and consequently affords 
no support to the theory built upon it. In the New Tes- 

* Ubi sup. pp. 148, 266. 
18 



tament the corresponding- plural Greek word is only once 
applied to the Israelites ;* and in that instance, evidently, as 
the context shows, because they had placed themselves in 
the condition of unbelieving Gentiles. 

The other case occurs in a work on Prophecy by Dr. 
Apthorp.f It is sufficient to note the point referred to in 
the discourse, without examining at all the author's appli- 
cation of the prophecy which he is illustrating. He is ap- 
plying Isa. xxix. 21, to the "impious and unreasonable 
rejection of Christ," which he represents as " marked with 
great emphasis." He prints the translation thus : 

" They make a man an offender for a word, 
And lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, 
And turn aside the just for a thing of nought." 

The comment is as follows : " This indeed is applicable 
to their treatment of all the prophets ; but the emphatic 
use of the singular so often repeated, seems to point out 
One eminently, if not exclusively." The remark founded 
on the singular number is of no force, as nothing could be 
more natural than the use of it to designate any individual 
to whom the statement might apply, and the Old Testa- 
ment constantly employs it to denote any of a class. The 
pronoun, which is represented as emphatic by being printed 
in capital letters, has nothing that corresponds to it in the 
Hebrew, which expresses the idea of the reprover by a 
participle ! 

Note XXIV.— Page 131. 

I cannot but think that the cause of revealed truth might 
be exposed to injury, by an attempt to find in history facts 

* Acts iv. 27. 

f Discourses on Prophecy, read in the Chapel of Lincoln's Inn, at the 
Lecture founded by the Right Rev. Wm. Warburton : by East Apthorp, 
D.D. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1786, vol. i. p. 7. 



NOTES. 207 

which exactly correspond to each particular specification 
recounted in some general prediction. It is said of Idu- 
mea : " From generation to generation it shall lie waste ; 
none shall pass through it forever and forever. I will cut 
off from Mount Seir him that passeth out, and him that 
returneth."* Dr. Keith interprets these places in the most 
literal and verbal manner, as predictive of the absolute im- 
possibility of passing through the country and returning. 
He quotes Volney's remark : " This country has not been 
visited by any traveller ;" and says, that " fact forbids that 
the prophecy should be limited to a general interpretation, 
and demands that it be literally understood and applied." 
He will not allow that the cases of Seetzen and Burckhardt 
are "at all opposed to the literal interpretation," although 
" Seetzen did indeed pass through Idumea, and Burckhardt 
traversed a considerable part of it." His reason is, that 
" neither of them lived to return to Europe. J will cut off 
from Mount Seir him that passeth out, and him that return- 
eth." But this proves too much, for the language of the 
prophecy as plainly predicts that " none shall pass through 
it forever and ever," as it does the excision of " him that 
passeth out and him that returneth;" and yet, he says, 
" Seetzen did pass through Idumea." Of two other travel- 
lers, Dr. Keith remarks, " They did not pass through Idu- 
mea, and they did return;" but of Seetzen and Burckhardt, 
they " did pass through it, and they did not return."f I 
wonder it never occurred to him, that the text to which he 
attaches so much importance, expressly speaks of the pas- 
senger as returning. — To " cut off him that passeth out, 
and him that returneth," is an idiomatic phrase, expressive 
of general destruction. Thus it is said in Zech. vii. 14, 
" the land was desolate, that no man passed through nor re- 

* Isa. xxxiv. 10. Ezek. xxxv. 7. 

t Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion derived from the lit- 
eral fulfilment of Prophecy : by the Rev. Alexander Keith. Harper's 
edition, 1832, pp. 137, 142, 147. The italics are the author's. 



208 NOTES. 

turned" The prophet explains the meaning in the very- 
next words : " they laid the pleasant land desolate." To 
interpret this language respecting the land of Palestine 
literally, in accordance with Dr. Keith's view of the same 
phraseology in Isaiah and Ezekiel, respecting the country 
of ldumea, would be preposterous. We have the same 
thought repeatedly, and expressed in nearly the same terms. 
Thus in Isa. xxxiii. 8 : " the wayfaring man ceaseih;" in Jer. 
ix. 10, 12: "they are burned up, so that none can pass 
through them ; the land is burned up like a wilderness, that 
none passeth through ;" in Ezek. xxxiii. 28 : " the mountains 
of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through ;" 
in Zech. ix. 8 : " I will encamp about mine house because 
of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of 
him that relurneth, and no oppressor shall pass through them 
any more." The Hebrew language abounds with similar 
idiomatic expressions, with which every expositor ought to 
be familiar. The enterprise of subsequent travellers, and 
increasing facilities in the country itself, might be sufficient 
to neutralize Dr. Keith's conclusion. And this is proved 
to be really the case by the fact, that Dr. Robinson, our 
own countryman, has actually traversed the region of coun- 
try referred to, and returned home in safety. 

If the reader will take the pains to examine the prophecy 
respecting ldumea in Isaiah xxxiv., he will see how ut- 
terly impossible it is to explain every particular of the 
description literally. It is there said that " the streams 
thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into 
brimstone, and the land shall become burning pitch. It 
shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof 
shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall 
lie waste ; none shall pass through it forever and ever."* 
Certainly there is as much exegetical evidence for a literal 
exposition of any one of these particulars as of any other. 
If it be said, that with regard to some, such an exposition 
* Ver. 9, 10. 



NOTES. 209 

would involve an absurdity, it may be replied, that with 
regard to others, it asserts what is not true. To the same 
result we must be led by the following verses. The literal 
expositor may find but little difficulty in the 11th, 12th, 
and 13th, and even in part of the 14th; but what is the 
literal meaning of the words, " the satyr shall cry to his 
fellow?" Is there such a creature? and has he roamed 
about and shrieked among the ruins of Idumea and Baby- 
lon? Dr. Keith maintains that even this part of the de- 
scription is to be taken literally, and that the words simply 
predict the very common circumstance that the deserted 
region shall abound with goats. He appeals to the author- 
ity of Parkhurst and Lowth in support of his opinion, that 
this is the meaning of the original word in this place, as it 
undoubtedly is in some others. Parkhurst does indeed so 
translate it; but Lowth, both here and in xiii. 21, retains 
the word satyr. If it signify goat, it will not be easy to 
say what the prophet means by representing one goat as 
calling or crying to another ; and this part of his descrip- 
tion of ruin, desolation, divine " curse and judgment,"* is 
hardly in keeping with most of the others. The same 
sort of prophetic threatening is denounced against Babylon 
in Isa. xiii. 19-22. In both these portions of sacred Scrip- 
ture, the Septuagint has translated the Hebrew word by 
demons, and it is not to be doubted that the prophet's lan- 
guage has served to mould the description given by St. John 
of the mystical Babylon in Rev. xviii. 2, which is there said 
to have " become the habitation of devils (Greek, demonsf), 
and the hold of every foul spirit. On some parts of this 
prophecy, the reader will find several important remarks in 
Arnold, ubi sup., vol. i. p. 413, et seq. 

* Ver. 5. 

t Perhaps it may not be amiss to remark, that the term devil, as desig- 
nating an evil spirit, never occurs in the New Testament in the plural num- 
ber. The word is always demons. The conclusion, therefore, from Biblical 
U6e, would seem to be, that while the Bible recognizes evil spirits or demons 
in abundance, it never speaks of more than one devil. 

18* 



210 NOTES. 

I have remarked in the discourse, that the principle therein 
stated may be usefully applied to parts of some of the im- 
precatory Psalms. Most thoughtful readers of those Psalms 
and certain other similar portions of Scripture feel a diffi- 
culty in reconciling expressions which seem to indicate an 
implacable state of mind, with that forgiving gentleness, 
which alone is in harmony with true religion and holiness. 
Various attempts have been made to diminish or remove 
the difficulty. It has been said that the denunciations re- 
ferred to are prophetic announcements, and therefore are 
not to be regarded as expressive of the writer's wish. This 
may be true in some cases, w T here the future might have 
been employed in the translation instead of the imperative; 
but in many this solution will not apply. The thought con- 
veyed is usually this : ' Let proper punishment be inflicted 
on God's obdurate enemies.' Sometimes this wish is ex- 
pressed for the ultimate benefit of the offending party ; as, 
for example, in the 83d Psalm, where, after very strong and 
severe imprecations on God's " enemies," it is said, " fill 
their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord," 
v. 16. But generally the inspired author's intention is, to 
vindicate and illustrate the purity of the divine nature and 
government. In all such cases, the inspiration lies in the 
general thought. The details or specific particulars consti- 
tute the form in which it appears. This is left to the au- 
thor, and is therefore modified by his views and feelings ; 
and these are sometimes moulded by the influence of cir- 
cumstances, and also by the imperfection of the dispensa- 
tion under which he lived. 

Note XXV.— Page 131. 

In confirmation of this remark, I cannot forbear calling 
the reader's attention to a few striking illustrations, al- 
though I am aware that the disciples of naturalism have en- 
deavored to set them all aside as irrelevant. 



NOTES. 211 

Notwithstanding all the efforts which have been made to 
explain Psalm xxii. 16, 18, of David, or some other real or 
ideal sufferer, no exposition is satisfactory but that which 
regards the language as intended to apply directly to the 
piercing of the Messiah's hands and feet, and the dividing 
of his garments by lot, as recounted in St. John's Gospel. 
The words in Isa. liii. 8, are exactly descriptive of the ille- 
gal and iniquitous conduct of the Jewish rulers towards the 
Messiah. The proper translation, as supported by the 
meaning of the words elsewhere, is this : ' By an oppressive 
judgment (or sentence) he was taken away.'* So also in ver. 
9 : ' They gave him his grave with the wicked ;' that is, they 
designed no other sepulture for him than that of executed 
criminals ; they intended his body to wither and decay, ex- 
posed to the wind and the sun, or to become the food of 
birds of prey. ' But (he was) with a rich man in his death.' 
The original word for wicked is plural, and for rich singu- 
lar; and the description, though brief, harmonizes with the 
fact of the Messiah's execution in company with criminals, 
and the respect shown to his sacred body when dead by the 
"rich Joseph of Arimathea." Another most striking veri- 
fication of a minute prediction is recorded in the history of 
the Kings. The future appearance of a descendant of Da- 
vid named Josiah is foretold, and various acts of his in dese- 
cration of the altar set up in Bethel by Jeroboam are par- 
ticularly stated in the first Book. In the second the fulfil- 
ment of each of these predicted circumstances is particularly 
detailed.f The neological interpreters consider the prophecy 
as having been uttered after the events, as they do also 
those in Daniel, following Porphyry, the celebrated oppo- 
nent of Christianity in the third century. But this is a 
mere begging of the question. Another instance is so re- 
markable that it ought not to be omitted, although for the 
sake of brevity I shall merely note it. Zedekiah had been 

* See note $: in Jewish Rabbies, p. 127. 

t 1 Kings xiii. 1, 2, compared with 2 Kings xxiii. 15-18. 



212 • NOTES. 

threatened with captivity in Babylon, while it had also been 
predicted that he should never see it. The remarkable fact 
that the conqueror put out the eyes of his unhappy prisoner 
as soon as he fell in his power and before carrying him to 
his capital, is a striking illustration of the minuteness of the 
prophecy, and of its accurate accomplishment. See 2 Kings 
xxv. 5-7. Jer. xxxix. 6-7, lii. 8-11. Ezek. xii. 12, 13. Jose- 
phus affirms that this seeming discrepancy in the prophecies 
led Zedekiah to put no faith in them.* 

Note XXVI.— Page 135. 

I have alluded here to the objections of Gesenius, whicn 
the reader may find in his Commentary on the portions of 
Isaiah referred to. Hengstenberg, in his Christology, has 
ably refuted them, as he has many other positions of the 
celebrated philologist and lexicographer. Biblical students 
of the present day must, of course, avail themselves of the 
learned labors of this distinguished scholar; but, if they 
would use them rightly and to the best advantage, they 
must also keep in mind his neological views, and subject 
the results of his investigations to the most unbiassed and 
candid and thorough examination. 



Note XXVIL— Page 152. 

Our English translation of Gen. x. 21 speaks of Shem as 
" the brother of Japheth the elder." But, most probably, 
the clause ought to be rendered, ' the elder brother of Ja- 
pheth.' For the reasons in favor of this translation, and a 
reply to the prominent objection urged against it, the reader 
is referred to my Companion to the Book of Genesis, Note 
61, pp. 229, 230. 

* Antiq. Lib. x. cap. vii. sec. 2. Edit. Hudson, pp. 444, 445. 



213 



Note XXVIIL— Page 157. 



This interpretation of Noah's prophecy is given by St. 
Augustin and other distinguished expositors. A brief, but 
satisfactory view of this subject may be found in Heng- 
stenberg's Christology, vol. i. pp. 41—46 of Keith's 
Translation, Alexandria, D. C, 1836. 

Note XXIX.— Page 161. 

Dr. Henderson speaks in comparatively mild language of 
the destruction of Israel's enemies. His representation 
would be unobjectionable, provided it were allowable to 
understand him figuratively. But the general tenor of his 
exposition shows that he speaks of a literal excision. " The 
enemies are all to be swept away by the powerful judg- 
ments of God." The author of the " Interpretations" be- 
fore quoted is more minute and definite in his statement. 
" When the nations shall cease to acknowledge the seed of 
Abraham as the blessing of all nations ; when they shall 
draw off from their allegiance to the nation of kings and 
priests ; when they shall begin to conceive malice and en- 
mity to the people who are thus honored above all nations ; 
then God, letting Satan loose among them, shall teach them 
how much they owe to Satan's restrainer, the Redeemer of 
Israel; for by him those malevolent humors shall be knead- 
ed up into strong delusion, and they shall rebel against the 
Jews and their divine king, and come up against the camp 
of the saints and the holy city in open rebellion, and fire, 
descending from heaven, shall devour them all * The Jews, 
who are Christ's brethren according to the flesh, shall pos- 
sess the supremacy over the nations as the royal priestly 
people. But " when at length, breeding serious discontents, 
they shall be offended in their benignant and beneficent 



214 NOTES. 

rulers ; and, instead of going up from year to year to keep 
the feast of tabernacles at Jerusalem, they shall confederate 
against the holy city and the camp of the saints ; God shall 
be so indignant at their blackest ingratitude as to rain down 
fire from heaven upon them, and consume them every one. 
Until which final consummation the tribes now scattered 
abroad and oppressed of all nations, shall sit in noble state, 
and exercise righteous sway over all the nations of the 
earth. ' They shall abide, because now shall he be great 
unto the ends of the earth.' "* 

The objectionable language of the Rev. Hugh McNeil, 
M.A., on the subject, I have quoted in part in another pub- 
lication.! I shall therefore only say, that such a theory 
ought to be substantiated by most incontrovertible evidence 
before one can be justified in promulgating and defend- 
ing it. 

But I cannot conclude this last note without referring to 
Mr. McNeil's most extraordinary comment on the language 
of St. James in Acts xv. The influence which long-cherish- 
ed and favorite views exercise on the interpretation of 
Scripture, is the only principle whereby to account for cer- 
tain expositions maintained by really good and able men. 
On no other ground can I conceive how the Apostle's ad- 
dress to the council at Jerusalem could be so misappre- 
hended and distorted. " In that council, Peter referred to 
the special revelation by which he had been led, some time 
before, to go and preach in the house of Cornelius, upon 
which James made the following remarkable comment: 
* Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gen- 
tiles, TO TAKE OUT OF THEM A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME.'J 

Now we have here a distinct declaration of God himself, 
that the design of this dispensation is to take and save a 
people out of I the Gentiles, which is certainly a very dif- 

• P. 141, 142. t Jewish Rabbies, p. 13a 

X The capitals and italics are the author's. 



NOTES. 215 

ferent thing from converting and blessing all the families 
of the earth."* 

The reader will bear in mind that this dispensation is un- 
doubtedly the Gospel dispensation, introduced by our Lord 
and established by his apostles under the influence of the 
Holy Ghost ; for it were preposterous to imagine that St. 
James intended to refer to his brother apostle as being instru- 
mental in introducing any other. Its design, according to the 
eloquent lecturer, is not to convert and bless " all the families 
of the earth." But St. Peter and St. Paul apply the promise 
of God to Abraham, "in thy seed shall all the families of 
the earth be blessed," to the earliest period of Christianity, 
the very age of our Lord and his apostles, and to the Gos- 
pel dispensation as then instituted. They must, therefore, 
of course, have applied it most strangely and unwarranta- 
bly. Plainly their view and that of our author are widely 
different. The popular and ardent preacher would persuade 
us to believe that it was God's purpose to select some Gen- 
tiles to be the ostensible depository of his covenant bless- 
ings, just as of old he had selected Abraham, and not to 
extend these blessings among all the families of man! 
Credat Judaeus ! It were unnecessary to show how en- 
tirely at variance with the whole series of prophetic scrip- 
ture is such an imaginary theory. 

In a note the author develops his views more fully, at 
least, if not more clearly and satisfactorily. " After] this I 
will return! After what? After a period of desertion, 
during which the house of David shall be desolate and bro- 
ken down ? After such a period I will return to it, and 
build it up. But during that period, what is to be done? 
Is God to be without a people on the earth, while he is 
turned away from the Jewish people, and until he returns 
to them ? No. In the interim he hath visited the Gentiles, 

* Popular Lectures on the Prophecies relative to the Jewish nation, by 
the Rev. Hugh M'Nkil, M.A. London, 1838, pp. 69, 70. 
r The italics are the author's. 



216 NOTES. 

to take out of them a people for his name. To this agree 
the words of the prophets, who say, After this I will return; 
and I will build again what was fallen down. What is it 
that is thus described as fallen down and deserted for a 
season, and afterwards built up again as in days of old ? 
Clearly the Jewish nation, the consequence of whose resto- 
ration is immediately added, That the residue of men might 
seek after the Lord, even all the Gentiles. 

" Thus there is first a period revealed, during which the 
Jews would be trodden down ; and the characteristic of 
this period is, a people taken out of the Gentiles. Then, 
secondly, after this, a period at which the Jews will be 
lifted up again. And, thirdly, a period immediately conse- 
quent, when all the Gentiles will call upon the Lord." 

Any extended comment on this remarkable development 
of the Apostle's language, is wholly unnecessary. It is 
quite clear that the predictions quoted in the 16th and 17th 
verses, are applied to the fact which he mentions in the 
14th, as having just been stated by St. Peter. In other 
words, the conversion of the Gentiles, and their union, then 
commencing, with the Jews in the church of Christ, are the 
verification of the prophecy. To this fact, he says that the 
words of the prophets, from whom he quotes an illustra- 
tion or specification, agree. The tabernacle of David, that 
is, the regal spiritual authority of his kingdom, as promised 
in 2 Sam. vii., to be permanent, had in a very great degree 
fallen down. It was then in the act of being built up again 
by numerous Jewish conversions to Christ, and the Gen- 
tiles were being built up in connection with it. That is, to 
use the language of the prophets, the former were taking 
possession of or inheriting the latter. Of course, this same 
spiritual re-edification, comprehending the combination of 
the two, is to proceed, and doubtless hereafter with in- 
creasing extent and strength. But still, it is nothing more 
than the growing of the same holy temple in the Lord, and, 
in its progress, a further development of the accomplish- 



NOTES. 217 

merit of the prophetic word referred to by both the Apos- 
tles. The expression, "take out a people," is evidently- 
employed to denote the commencement of the same dispensa- 
tion, which, in its progress and completion, is to convert and 
"bless all the families of the earth." 

And here I cannot but recall the reader's attention to 
what is in some danger of being overlooked, or to which, at 
least, sufficient prominence may not be given. I mean the 
fact, that very large bodies of the Hebrew nation were in 
the Apostolic age converted to Christ. It is true, indeed, 
that they were only " the remnant, the election," the choice 
few, in contradistinction to the great unbelieving mass. 
Yet considered in themselves they were very numerous. 
The three thousand converts of the day of Pentecost were 
soon augmented by daily additions of "the saved;"* so 
that " the number of the men was about five thousand"! 
and we may be confident that that of the women was not 
less, for they never failed to honor the Saviour at least in 
an equal degree with the other sex. And, as the truth 
became better known, " multitudes of believers were added 
to the Lord," and " the number of the disciples was multi- 
plied."! Afterwards we read of " many myriads^ of believ- 
ing Jews" in Jerusalem. On examining St. Paul's Epistles 
we find that every church to which he writes abounded 
with Jewish converts ; and St. James addressed his letter 
to " the twelve tribes," as a suitable appellation of the vast 
and dispersed body of believing Israelites. These facts 
justify the conclusion, that the fallen-down tabernacle of 
David, — in other words, the spiritual authority and king- 
dom of David's Lord, vested in him as the lineal successor, 
in the most exalted sense, of the son of Jesse, the true 
prophetic David of Ezekiel, — had been already very greatly 

* Acts ii. 47. This is the only correct translation of the original word. 
Oomp. in Greek, 2 Cor. ii. 15, and in Greek also the relation of the martyr- 
dom of Polycarp, sec. 17. 

f iv. 4. J v. 14, vi. I. 

§ xxi. 20. So the original Greek word ought to be translated. 

19 



218 NOTES. 

raised up in the Apostolic age. It would, then, be a gross 
mistake, to suppose that the ancient prophecies relating to 
Jewish conversion and the reception of Gentiles into this 
same divine kingdom of the David, had not been at all 
verified, or, if verified, at most in a very trifling and unim- 
portant degree. 

The view advocated by Mr. McNeil would seem most 
effectually to militate against all practical missionary efforts, 
based on a belief that — in respect to the duty of spreading 
Christianity, as founded by the Apostles, and existing in 
the world ever since their time in a greater or less degree 
of vitality — the field of operation is the world. Be- 
cause, it would evidently be useless to attempt to spread 
over all the world a system of religion, the whole design 
of which, as stated by an Apostle, was nothing more than 
to make a selection from among the Gentiles of a certain 
favored class, like the family of Abraham of old, to be, for 
some indefinite period, the depository of God's truth during 
the time that the " dispensation" should be allowed to con- 
tinue. As well might Moses and the prophets have en- 
deavored to extend the Jewish system, at least so far as it 
did not require residence within the promised land. No : 
the Gospel, as established by our Lord and his Apostles, 
among whom St. Peter occupied a most prominent position, 
is and must be, like its divine Author, " the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever." In various ages of the church, from 
that of Montanus to that of Irving, certain men have vainly 
wished to improve it, in order to introduce something new 
and more spiritual. A melancholy proof of man's weak- 
ness, want of faith and submission, self-dependence, con- 
scious superiority, and resolute adherence to a natural 
preference of his own " Abana and Pharpar" to " the waters 
of Jordan." May the Merciful and Almighty God grant, 
that Christianity, as established by the Apostle Peter and 
his inspired and authoritative coadjutors, may not only take 
out of the Gentiles a people for the honor of his holy name, 



NOTES. 219 

but also, in accordance with the direction of its divine 
Founder — " go into all the world, and preach my gos- 
pel to every creature" — incorporate into His original 
church, along with the faith once delivered to the saints 
and the very mind which was in Christ Jesus, every indi- 
vidual Heathen, Mohammedan and Jew, so that all mankind 
may form one brotherhood, most firmly united in the bonds 
of Christian peace, and truth, and love, and harmony! 
Amen, Amen ! 



WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



A COMPANION TO THE BOOK OF GENESIS, 8vo. pp. 
405. $1. 

" Though not designed to be a commentary, this valuable, but 
in this country little known work, furnishes the biblical student 
with abundant aid for the exact and literal interpretation of the 
book of Genesis. The Introduction contains an able statement 
and exposure of the several hypotheses, which have been offered 
for showing that this book is nothing but a collection of fragments 
and documents of previous writers. This is followed by a com- 
prehensive analysis of the several chapters. In chap. xlix. the 
learned author has given a new translation of Jacob's blessing of 
the twelve tribes ; and to the analysis succeeds a series of elabo- 
rate notes on the most difficult passages of the book of Genesis, 
including copious annotations on chap. xlix. Of these notes the 
following are particularly worthy of attention, from the learning, 
ability, and correctness of interpretation which characterize them, 
viz., No. 1 2. on the origin of the Sabbath and on the creation ; 
No. 64. on the Amalekites ; No. 81, on part of chapter xviii. ; No. 
104, on the character of Jacob; No. 145, on some chronological 
difficulties in chap. xxxviL ; and No. 154, on shepherds being an 
abomination to the Egyptians. Dr. Turner has throughout 
shown his intimate acquaintance with what the German theolo- 
gians have written on the Book of Genesis ; and is in no respect 
tainted by their views and neologian speculations." — Hoexe's In- 
troduction, 9th edition, Lond. 1846, vol. v. p. 312. 

" The work before us forms one of those honorable exceptions 
in our literature, that perform more than they promise. Dr. 
Turner has, at different times, done important service to the cause 
of theology, by works original and translated ; and now. by his 
Companion to Genesis, has deserved the gratitude of the student. 
Besides the notes already referred to, (Nos. 3, 6, 9, 10, 12,) we 
1 



WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

would invite particular attention to the following : Note 19, on the 
serpent and the exposition of the fall ; 27, on the nature of Abel's 
faith ; 64, on the Amalekites; 74, on the phrase, in the presence 
of; 81, on the name Adonai, as applied to one of the angels that 
appeared to Abraham ; 97, on the offering up of Isaac ; 104, on 
the expression, a plain (rather perfect) man, applied to Jacob; 
107, on the deception practised by him ; 141, on the Idumeans ; 
145, on the chronological difficulties of chap, xxxvii. ; 154, on the 
antipathy of the Egyptians to shepherds. The notes on the 49th 
chap, with the version given by the author are amongst the most 
valuable parts of the work." — Methodist Quarterly Review. 



ESSAY ON OUR LORD'S DISCOURSE AT CAPER- 
NAUM, RECORDED IN THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF 
ST. JOHN, 12mo. pp. 149. 63 cents. 

" This valuable contribution to the stores of biblical criticism, 
appears to have been written with the immediate view of com- 
bating the errors of Dr. Wiseman, who appeals to this chapter 
for proofs of the real presence. The subject of the real presence 
in the eucharist is so much a question at the present day, and 
especially in the Episcopal Church, that every friend of truth 
will look upon Dr. Turner's work as very seasonable, and calcu- 
lated to do much good." — New York Express. 

" The discourse at Capernaum has often been abused to the 
support of transubstantiation, and Dr. Turner has done a good 
work in clearing it from the sacramental meshes which have been 
cast around it, and placing the chapter in its true light." — 
Methodist Quarterly Review. 

" This little work is marked by the ability, and learning, and 
piety of its author. We commend the whole essay to the atten- 
tion of all who desire to arrive at a correct understanding of the 
chapter." — Calendar. 

" Dr. Turner conducts his examination of Dr. Wiseman in an 
acute and masterly manner. He has given the key which un- 
locks the true interpretation of the whole chapter, and solves 
every difficulty in it. A more successful or beautiful piece of 
biblical interpretation will rarely be found. This treatise should 
be read by ever}' one capable of appreciating its excellence and 
value." — Protestant Churchman. 

u This is an exact, comprehensive, and clear analysis of a por- 
tion of scripture often perverted. Dr. Turner has shown himself a 
ripe scholar and a true Protestant. He conclusively shows that 
2 



WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

faith in Christ is the great theme, which is not once lost sight of, 
and runs through the whole discourse ; and so close and well 
compacted is the reasoning which sustains this interpretation, that 
none but the most reckless disputant will ever attempt its refu- 
tation. The whole is creditable to the scholarship, the talents, 
and the Christian spirit of the author, and is a valuable contribu- 
tion to the theological literature of the church. It stands equally- 
distant from the rationalizing philosophy which would divorce 
religion from its forms, and from the imbecile superstition which 
sinks the spiritual in the carnal." — Episcopal Observer. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF SOME OF THE MOST 
DISTINGUISHED JEWISH RABBLES, AND TRANS- 
LATIONS OF PORTIONS OF THEIR COMMENTA- 
RIES AND OTHER WORKS, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE 
INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES : 12mo. pp. 245. 75 cts. 

" We have here another interesting and instructive work from 
the able and learned author. The appearance of the volume at 
this time must give fresh interest to the efforts now making in 
behalf of the Jews. Every Christian wishes to see them embrace 
Jesus Christ as their long-promised Messiah, and the pious labors 
of the Church for that object can be directed with more intelli- 
gence and effect, when we are brought into a better acquaintance 
with the views entertained by their Rabbies, respecting the pro- 
phecies which foretell the Saviour's advent. Their opinions are 
here presented to us by Dr. Turner in his own clear and chaste 
style of writing, and will be read with instruction by those whose 
' heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be 
saved.' " — New York Express. 

" Notwithstanding the modest manner in which the author 
speaks of his performance, we doubt not but the selections are 
well made and faithfully translated." — Literary World, March 
11, 1848. 

" We can easily perceive, from our own inspection of the vol- 
ume, that every promise of the title-page has been well and 
carefully redeemed. We heartily commend the book to the at- 
tention of all who take an interest in what is really a very cu- 
rious, however much neglected, department of literature." — Jew- 
ish Chronicle, Jan. 1848. 

" To the learned Jew there can be no access, except through 
an acquaintance with his sacred literature, to which the work of 
Dr. Turner introduces us. Who doubts the utility of such a pub- 
3 



WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

lication, has not weighed the requisitions of the age, and the ob- 
jects of the Christian world. The Professor's general reputation 
is a security that what he undertakes he is competent to per- 
form. His preface contains wise and judicious counsel. The 
biographies of the Rabbies are instructive, and the translations, 
as far as the writer can judge, are both elegant and accurate ; at 
least as elegant as accuracy will permit them to be." — Church 
Times, Dec. 17, 1847. 

" We are happy to find that Rabbinical learning, which has 
been too much neglected and despised, is beginning to excite some 
interest ; and that one of our ripest and most judicious biblical 
scholars is not only devoting his own attention to it, but is en- 
deavoring to awaken that of others by this pleasing and valua- 
ble publication. The book is divisible into three parts. The first 
gives a very lucid and pleasing account of all that is known and 
worth repeating, respecting seven of the more distinguished Jew- 
ish Rabbies of the middle ages. In this part of his work, Dr. 
Turner has consulted and followed the best authorities ; and his 
chief reliance is, very properly, Dr. J. M. Jost, the greatest of 
modern Jewish historians. In the second part, he has given us 
translations from the Commentaries and Targums. To the cor- 
rectness of those from Jarchi, and some of the Targums, we our- 
selves can testify. Those from Aben Ezra, Saadias, etc., we had 
not the means of testing. The third part contains translated 
tracts from two of the most valuable works of Maimonides. The 
last, from the Moreh Nevochim, or Guide to the Perplexed, we 
have compared throughout with the original Hebrew, and pro- 
nounce it accurate and scholar-like. The notes of the translator 
are excellent," — Church Review & Eccles. Register, April, 1848. 



SPIRITUAL THINGS COMPARED WITH SPIRITUAL, 
AND EXPLAINED TO SPIRITUAL MEN; OR AN AT- 
TEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE THE NEW TESTAMENT 
BY PARALLEL REFERENCES. 

This collection of references was originally compiled for the 
use of theological students. It may be made more extensively 
useful by aiding teachers in Sunday Schools, and Bible Classes ; 
and by being carefully studied by readers of the Scriptures gen- 
erally. The preface will explain the nature of the publication. 



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